THE    FILM    MYSTERY 


UNIV.  OF  CAUF.  LIBRARY,  LOS  ANGELES 


BOOKS  BT 
ARTHUR    B.  REEVE 

Craig  Kennedy  Detective  Sturiet 

THE  FILM  MYSTERY 
THE   SOUL  SCAR 
THE  PANAMA  PLOT 
THE  ADVENTURESS 
THE  TREASURE-TRAIN 
THE   SILENT  BULLET 
THE   POISONED   PEN 
THE   DREAM   DOCTOR 
THE  EXPLOITS  OF  ELAINB 
THE   ROMANCE  OF  ELAINB 
THE  EAR   IN   THE  WALL 
THE  WAR  TERROR 
GOLD  OF  THE  GODS 
THE  SOCIAL  GANGSTER 

Other  Detective  Stories 
GUY  GARRICK 
CONSTANCE   DUNLAP 


HARPER  &  BROTHERS,  NEW  YORK 

[ESTABLISHED  1817] 


"TALK  MONEY  TO  ME,  MR.  MAN!"  LOLLED  ENID.    "TALK  THE 
SHEKELS — THE  GOLDEN  SHEKELS!" 


THE 
FILM    MYSTERY 


BY 

ARTHUR  B.  REEVE 

AUTHOR   OF 

"TV  Soul  Sear" "The  Adventuress" 
m*4  Other  Craig  Kennedy 
Scientific  Detective  Stories 


HARPER  &  BROTHERS  PUBLISHERS 

NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 


Copyright,  1911,  by  Harper  &  Brothers 
Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGB 

I.  A  CAMERA  CRIME 1 

II.  THE  TINT  SCRATCH 13 

III.  TANGLED  MOTIVES       ...... 24 

IV.  THE  FATAL  SCRIPT 33 

V.  AN  EMOTIONAL  MAZE 45 

VI.  THE  FIRST  CLUE 60 

VII.  ENID  FATB 72 

VIII.  LAWRENCE  MILLARD 84 

IX.  WHITE-LIGHT  SHADOWS 99 

X.  CHEMICAL  RESEARCH Ill 

XI.  FORESTALLED 121 

XII.  EMERT  PHELPS 130 

XIII.  MARILYN  LORINQ 141 

XIV.  ANOTHER  CLUB 153 

XV.  I  BECOME  A  DETECTIVE 165 

XVI.  ENID  ASSISTS 182 

XVII.  AN  APPEAL 195 

XVIII.  THB  ANTIVENIN 202 

XIX.  AROUND  THE  CIRCLE 208 

XX.  THB  BANQUET  SCENE ' .  224 

XXI.  MERLE  SHIRLHT  OVERACTS 240 

XXII.  Tms  STEM 250 

XXIII.  BOTULIN  TOXIN 260 

XXIV.  THB  INVISIBLE  MENACE  269 


2132387 


CONTENTS 

CHAP.  PAGE 

XXV.  ITCHING  SALVE 279 

XXVI.  A  CIGARETTE   CASB 292 

XXVII.  THE  FILM  FIRE 302 

XXVIII.  THE  PHOSPHORUS  BOMB 317 

XXIX.  MICROSCOPIC  EVIDENCE 330 

XXX.  THE  BALLROOM  SCENB 341 

XXXI.  PHTSOSTIGMIN 351 

XXXU.    CAMERA  EVIDENCE  361 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 


A   CAMERA   CRIME 

"/CAMERA!" 

^-^  Kennedy  and  I  had  been  hastily  sum- 
moned from  his  laboratory  in  the  city  by  District- 
Attorney  Mackay,  and  now  stood  in  the  luxurious, 
ornate  library  in  the  country  home  of  Emery 
Phelps,  the  banker,  at  Tarrytown. 

"Camera! — you  know  the  call  when  the  director 
is  ready  to  shoot  a  scene  of  a  picture? — well — at 
the  moment  it  was  given  and  the  first  and  second 
camera  men  began  to  grind — she  crumpled — sank 
to  the  floor — unconscious!" 

Hot  and  excited,  Mackay  endeavored  to  re- 
enact  his  case  for  us  with  all  the  histrionic  ability 
of  a  popular  prosecutor  before  a  jury. 

"  There's  where  she  dropped — they  carried  her 
over  here  to  this  davenport — sent  for  Doctor  Blakt 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

— but  he  couldn't  do  a  thing  for  her.  She  died — 
just  as  you  see  her.  Blake  thought  the  matter  so 
serious,  so  alarming,  that  he  advised  an  imme- 
diate investigation.  That's  why  I  called  you  so 
urgently." 

Before  us  lay  the  body  of  the  girl,  remarkably 
beautiful  even  as  she  lay  motionless  in  death.  Her 
masses  of  golden  hair,  disheveled,  added  to  the  soft 
contours  of  her  features.  Her  wonderfully  large 
blue-gray  eyes  with  their  rare  gift  for  delicate 
shades  of  expression  were  closed,  but  long  curling 
lashes  swept  her  cheeks  still  and  it  was  hard  to 
believe  that  this  was  anything  more  than  sleep. 

It  was  inconceivable  that  Stella  Lamar,  idol  of 
the  screen,  beloved  of  millions,  could  have  been 
taken  from  the  world  which  worshiped  her. 

I  felt  keenly  for  the  district  attorney.  He  was  a 
portly  little  man  of  the  sort  prone  to  emphasize  his 
own  importance  and  so,  true  to  type,  he  had  been 
upset  completely  by  a  case  of  genuine  magnitude. 
It  was  as  though  visiting  royalty  had  dropped  dead 
within  his  jurisdiction. 

I  doubt  whether  the  assassination  of  a  McKmley 
or  a  Lincoln  could  have  unsettled  him  as  much, 
because  in  such  an  event  he  would  have  had  the 
whole  weight  of  the  Federal  government  behind 
him.  There  was  no  question  but  that  Stella  Lamar 
enjoyed  a  country-wide  popularity  known  by  few 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

of  our  Presidents.  Her  sudden  death  was  a  national 
tragedy. 

Apparently  Mackay  had  appealed  to  Kennedy 
the  moment  he  learned  the  identity  of  Stella,  the 
moment  he  realized  there  was  any  question  about 
the  circumstances  surrounding  the  affair.  Over 
the  telephone  the  little  man  had  been  almost  in- 
coherent. He  had  heard  of  Kennedy's  work  and 
was  feverishly  anxious  to  enlist  his  aid,  at  any 
price. 

All  we  knew  as  we  took  the  train  on  the  New  York 
Central  was  that  Stella  was  playing  a  part  in  a 
picture  to  be  called  "The  Black  Terror,"  that  the 
producer  was  Manton  Pictures,  Incorporated,  and 
that  she  had  dropped  dead  suddenly  and  without 
warning  in  the  middle  of  a  scene  being  photographed 
in  the  library  at  the  home  of  Emery  Phelps. 

I  was  singularly  elated  at  the  thought  of  accom- 
panying Kennedy  on  this  particular  case.  It  was 
not  that  the  tragic  end  of  a  film  star  whose  work  I 
had  learned  to  love  was  not  horrible  to  me,  but 
rather  because,  for  once,  I  thought  Kennedy 
actually  confronted  a  situation  where  his  knowledge 
of  a  given  angle  of  life  was  hardly  sufficient  for  his 
usual  analysis  of  the  facts  involved. 

"Walter,"  he  had  exclaimed,  as  I  burst  into  the 
laboratory  in  response  to  a  hurried  message,  "here's 
where  I  need  your  help.  You  know  all  about 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

moving  pictures,  so — if  you'll  phone  your  city 
editor  and  ask  him  to  let  you  cover  a  case  for  the 
Star  we'll  just  about  catch  a  tram  at  One  Hundred 
and  Twenty-fifth  Street." 

Because  the' film  world  had  fascinated  me  always 
I  had  made  a  point  of  being  posted  on  its  people 
and  their  activities.  I  remembered  the  very  first 
appearance  of  Stella  Lamar  back  in  the  days  of 
General  Film,  when  pictures  were  either  Licensed 
or  Independent,  when  only  two  companies  manu- 
factured worth-while  screen  dramas,  when  any  sub- 
ject longer  than  a  reel  had  to  be  of  rare  excellence, 
such  as  the  art  films  imported  from  France  for  the 
Licensed  program.  In  those  days,  Stella  rose 
rapidly  to  prominence.  Her  large  wistful  eyes  had 
set  the  hearts  of  many  of  us  to  beating  at  staccato 
rate. 

Then  came  Lloyd  Manton,  her  present  manager, 
and  the  first  of  a  new  type  of  business  man  to  enter 
the  picture  field.  Manton  was  essentially  a  pro- 
moter. His  predecessors  had  been  men  carried  to 
success  by  the  growth  of  the  new  art.  Old  Pop 
Belman,  for  instance,  had  been  a  fifth-rate  oculist 
who  rented  and  sold  stereopticons  as  a  side  line. 
With  blind  luck  he  had  grasped  the  possibilities  of 
Edison's  new  invention.  Just  before  the  break-up 
of  General  Film  he  had  become  many  times  a 
millionaire  and  it  was  then  that  he  had  sent  a 

4 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

wave  of  laughter  over  the  entire  country  by  an 
actual  cable  to  William  Shakespeare,  address 
London,  asking  for  all  screen  rights  to  the  plays 
written  by  that  gentleman. 

Manton  represented  a  secondary  phase  in  film 
finance.  Continent  Films,  his  first  corporation, 
was  a  stockjobbing  concern.  Grasping  the  im- 
mense popularity  of  Stella  Lamar,  he  had  coaxed 
her  away  from  the  old  studio  out  in  Flatbush 
where  all  her  early  successes  had  been  photographed. 
With  the  magic  of  her  name  he  sold  thousands  of 
shares  of  stock  to  a  public  already  fed  up  on  the 
stories  of  the  fortunes  to  be  made  in  moving  pic- 
tures. When  much  of  the  money  so  raised  had  been 
dissipated,  when  Continent's  quotation  on  the  curb 
sank  to  an  infinitesimal  fraction,  then  it  developed 
that  Stella's  contract  was  with  Manton  personally. 
Manton  Pictures,  Incorporated,  was  formed  to 
exploit  her.  The  stock  of  this  company  was  not 
offered  to  outside  investors. 

Stella's  popularity  had  hi  no  way  suffered  from 
the  business  methods  of  her  manager.  Manton, 
at  the  least,  had  displayed  rare  foresight  in  his 
estimation  of  public  taste.  Except  for  a  few  at- 
tempts with  established  stage  favorites,  photo- 
graphed generally  hi  screen  versions  of  theatrical 
classics  and  backed  by  affiliations  with  the  pro- 
ducers of  the  legitimate  stage,  Continent  Films 

5 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

was  the  first  concern  to  make  the  five-reel  feature. 
Stella,  as  a  Continent  player,  was  the  very  first 
feature  star.  Under  the  banner  of  Manton  Pic- 
tures, she  had  never  surrendered  her  position  of 
pre-eminence. 

Also,  scandal  somehow  had  failed  to  touch  her. 
Those  initiated  to  the  inner  gossip  of  the  film  world, 
like  myself,  were  under  no  illusions.  The  relations 
between  Stella  and  Manton  were  an  open  secret. 
Yet  the  picture  fans,  in  their  blind  worship,  be- 
lieved her  to  be  as  they  saw  her  upon  the  screen. 
To  them  the  wide  and  wistful  innocence  of  her 
remarkably  large  eyes  could  not  be  anything  but 
genuine.  The  artlessness  of  the  soft  curves  of  her 
mouth  was  proof  to  them  of  the  reality  of  an 
ingenuous  and  very  girlish  personality. 

Even  her  divorce  had  helped  rather  than  harmed 
her.  It  seemed  irony  to  me  that  she  should  have 
obtained  the  decree  instead  of  her  husband,  and 
in  New  York,  too,  where  the  only  grounds  are  un- 
faithfulness. The  testimony  in  the  case  had  been 
sealed  so  that  no  one  knew  whom  she  had  named 
as  corespondent.  At  the  time,  I  wondered  what 
pressure  had  been  exerted  upon  Millard  to  prevent 
the  filing  of  a  cross  suit.  Surely  he  should  have 
been  able  to  substantiate  the  rumors  of  her  asso- 
ciation with  Lloyd  Manton. 

Lawrence  Millard,  author  and  playwright  and 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

finally  scenario  writer,  had  been  as  much  respon- 
sible for  the  success  of  his  wife  as  Manton,  and  in  a 
much  less  spectacular  way.  It  was  Millard  who 
had  written  her  first  great  Continent  success,  who 
had  developed  the  peculiar  type  of  story  best  suited 
for  her,  back  in  the  early  days  of  the  one  reel  and 
General  Film. 

It  is  commonly  known  in  picture  circles  that  an 
actress  who  screens  well,  even  if  she  is  only  a  moder- 
ately good  artist,  can  be  made  a  star  with  one  or 
two  or  three  good  stories  and  that,  conversely,  a 
star  may  be  ruined  by  a  succession  of  badly  written 
or  badly  produced  vehicles.  Those  of  us  not 
blinded  by  an  idolatrous  worship  for  the  girl  con- 
demned her  severely  for  throwing  her  husband 
aside  at  the  height  of  her  success.  The  public 
displayed  their  sympathy  for  her  by  a  burst  of 
renewed  interest.  The  receipts  at  the  box  office 
whenever  her  films  were  shown  probably  delighted 
both  Manton  and  Stella  herself. 

I  had  wondered,  as  Kennedy  and  I  occupied  a 
seat  in  the  train,  and  as  he  left  me  to  my  thoughts, 
whether  there  could  be  any  connection  between  the 
tragedy  and  the  divorce.  The  decree,  I  knew, 
was  not  yet  final.  Could  it  be  possible  that  Millard 
was  unwilling,  after  all,  to  surrender  her?  Could 
he  prefer  deliberate  murder  to  granting  her  her 
freedom?  I  was  compelled  to  drop  that  line  of 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

thought,  since  it  offered  no  explanation  of  his  pre- 
vious failure  to  contest  her  suit  or  to  start  counter 
action. 

Then  my  reflections  had  strayed  away  from 
Kennedy's  sphere,  the  solving  of  the  mystery,  to 
my  own,  the  news  value  of  her  death  and  the 
events  following.  The  Star,  as  always,  had  been 
only  too  glad  to  assign  me  to  any  case  where  Craig 
Kennedy  was  concerned;  my  phone  message  to 
the  city  editor,  the  first  intimation  to  any  New 
York  paper  of  Stella's  death,  already  had  resulted 
without  doubt  in  scare  heads  and  an  extra  edition. 

The  thought  of  the  prominence  given  the  personal 
affairs  of  picture  players  and  theatrical  folk  had 
disgusted  me. 

There  are  stars  against  whom  there  is  not  the 
slightest  breath  of  gossip,  even  among  the  studio 
scandal-mongers.  Any  number  of  girls  and  men 
go  about  their  work  sanely  and  seriously,  con- 
cerned in  nothing  but  their  success  and  the  pursuit 
of  normal  pleasures.  As  a  matter  of  fact  it  had 
struck  me  on  the  train  that  this  was  about  the 
first  tune  Craig  Kennedy  had  ever  been  called  in 
upon  a  case  even  remotely  connected  with  the 
picture  field.  I  knew  he  would  be  confronted 
with  a  tangled  skein  of  idle  talk,  from  everybody, 
about  everybody,  and  mostly  without  justification. 
I  hoped  he  would  not  fall  into  the  popular  error  of 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

assuming  all  film  players  bad,  all  studios  schools  of 
immorality.  I  was  glad  I  was  able  to  accompany 
him  on  that  account. 

The  arrival  at  Tarrytown  had  ended  my  reflec- 
tions, and  Kennedy's — whatever  they  may  have 
been.  Mackay  himself  had  met  us  at  the  station 
and  with  a  few  words,  to  cover  his  nervousness, 
had  whisked  us  out  to  the  house. 

As  we  approached,  Kennedy  had  taken  quick 
note  of  the  surroundings,  the  location  of  the  home 
itself,  the  arrangement  of  the  grounds.  There 
was  a  spreading  lawn  on  all  four  sides,  unbroken 
by  plant  or  bush  or  tree — sheer  prodigality  of 
space,  the  better  to  display  a  rambling  but  most 
artistic  pile  of  gray  granite.  Masking  the  road 
and  the  adjoining  grounds  was  thick,  unpenetrable 
shrubbery,  a  ring  of  miniature  forest  land  about  the 
estate.  There  was  a  garage,  set  back,  and  tennis 
courts,  and  a  practice  golf  green.  In  the  center  of 
a  garden  hi  a  far  corner  a  summerhouse  was  placed 
so  as  to  reflect  itself  in  the  surface  of  a  glistening 
swimming  pool. 

As  we  pulled  up  under  the  porte-cochere  Emery 
Phelps,  the  banker,  greeted  us.  Perhaps  it  was 
my  imagination,  but  it  seemed  to  me  that  there 
was  a  repressed  animosity  hi  his  manner,  as  though 
he  resented  the  intrusion  of  Kennedy  and  myself, 
yet  felt  powerless  to  prevent  it.  In  contrast  to  his 

2  9 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

manner  was  the  cordiality  of  Lloyd  Manton,  just 
inside  the  door.  Manton  was  childishly  eager  in 
his  welcome,  so  much  so  that  I  was  able  to  detect  a 
shade  of  suspicion  in  Kennedy's  face. 

The  others  of  the  company  were  clustered  in  the 
living  room,  through  which  we  passed  to  reach  the 
library.  I  found  small  opportunity  to  study  them 
in  the  rather  dun  light.  Mackay  beckoned  to  a 
man  standing  in  a  window,  presenting  him  to 
Kennedy  as  Doctor  Blake.  Then  we  entered  the 
long  paneled  chamber  which  had  been  the  scene 
of  the  tragedy. 

Now  I  stood,  rather  awed,  with  the  motionless 
figure  of  Stella  Lamar  before  me  in  her  last  pitiable 
close-up.  For  I  have  never  lost  the  sense  of 
solemnity  on  entering  the  room  of  a  tragedy,  in 
spite  of  the  long  association  I  have  had  with  Ken- 
nedy in  the  scientific  detection  of  crime.  Par- 
ticularly did  I  have  the  feeling  in  this  case.  The 
death  of  a  man  is  tragic,  but  I  know  nothing 
more  affecting  than  the  sudden  and  violent  death 
of  a  beautiful  woman — unless  it  be  that  of  a 
child. 

I  recalled  a  glimpse  of  Stella  as  I  had  seen  her 
in  her  most  recent  release,  as  the  diaphragm 
opened  on  her  receiving  a  box  of  chocolates,  sent 
by  her  lover,  and  playfully  feeding  one  of  them  to 
her  beautiful  collie,  "Laddie,"  as  he  romped  about 

10 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

upon  a  divan  and  almost  smothered  her  with  affec- 
tion. The  vivacity  and  charm  of  the  scene  were  in 
sad  contrast  with  what  lay  before  me. 

As  I  looked  more  carefully  I  saw  now  that  her 
full,  well-rounded  face  was  contorted  with  either 
pain  or  fear — perhaps  both.  Even  through  the 
make-up  one  could  see  that  her  face  was  blotched 
and  swollen.  Also,  the  muscles  were  contorted; 
the  eyes  looked  as  if  they  might  be  bulging  under 
the  lids;  and  there  was  a  bluish  tinge  to  her  skin. 
Evidently  death  had  come  quickly,  but  it  had  not 
been  painless. 

"Even  the  coroner  has  not  disturbed  the  body," 
Mackay  hastened  to  explain  to  Kennedy.  "The 
players,  the  camera  men,  all  were  sent  out  of  the 
room  the  moment  Doctor  Blake  was  certain  some- 
thing more  than  a  natural  cause  lay  behind  her 
death.  Mr.  Phelps  telephoned  to  me,  and  upon 
my  arrival  I  ordered  the  doors  and  windows  closed, 
posted  my  deputies  to  prevent  any  interference  with 
anything  in  the  room,  left  my  instructions  that 
everyone  was  to  be  detained,  then  got  in  touch 
with  you  as  quickly  as  I  could." 

Kennedy  turned  to  him.  Something  in  the  tone 
fof  his  voice  showed  that  he  meant  his  compliment. 
"I'm  glad,  Mackay,  to  be  called  in  by  some  one 
who  knows  enough  not  to  destroy  evidence;  who 

realizes  that  perhaps  the  slightest  disarrangement 

11 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

of  a  rug,  for  instance,  may  be  the  only  clue  to  a 
murder.     It's — it's  rare!" 

The  little  district  attorney  beamed.  If  he  had 
found  it  necessary  to  walk  across  the  floor  just 
then  he  would  have  strutted.  I  smiled  because  I 
wanted  Kennedy  to  show  again  his  marvelous  skill 
in  tracing  a  crime  to  its  perpetrator.  I  was 
anxious  that  nothing  should  be  done  to  hamper 
him. 


II 

THE   TINY   SCRATCH 

L^ENNEDY,  before  his  own  examination  of  the 
* •*>  body,  turned  to  Doctor  Blake.  "Tell  me  just 
what  you  found  when  you  arrived,"  he  directed. 

The  physician,  whose  practice  embraced  most 
of  the  wealthy  families  in  and  around  Tarry- 
town,  was  an  unusually  tall,  iron -gray -haired 
man  of  evident  competency.  It  was  very  plain 
that  he  resented  his  unavoidable  connection  with 
the  case. 

"She  was  still  alive,"  he  responded,  thoughtfully, 
' '  although  breathing  with  difficulty .  Nearly  every- 
one had  clustered  about  her,  so  that  she  was  getting 
little  air,  and  the  room  was  stuffy  from  the  lights 
they  had  been  using  in  taking  the  scene.  They 
told  me  she  dropped  unconscious  and  that  they 
couldn't  revive  her,  but  at  first  it  did  not  occur 
to  me  that  it  might  be  serious.  I  thought  perhaps 

the  heat — " 

13 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"You  saw  nothing  suspicious,"  interrupted  Ken- 
nedy, "  nothing  in  the  actions  or  manner  of  anyone 
in  the  room?  " 

"No,  when  I  first  entered  I  didn't  suspect  any- 
thing out  of  the  way.  I  had  them  send  everyone 
into  the  next  room,  except  Manton  and  Phelps, 
and  had  the  doors  and  windows  thrown  open  to 
give  her  air.  Then  when  I  examined  her  I  detected 
what  seemed  to  me  to  be  both  a  muscular  and  ner- 
vous paralysis,  which  by  that  time  had  proceeded 
pretty  far.  As  I  touched  her  she  opened  her  eyes, 
but  she  was  unable  to  speak.  She  was  breathing 
with  difficulty;  her  heart  action  was  weakening  so 
rapidly  that  I  had  little  opportunity  to  apply 
restorative  measures." 

"What  do  you  think  caused  the  death?" 

"So  far,  I  can  make  no  satisfactory  explanation." 
The  doctor  shrugged  his  shoulders  very  slightly. 
"That  is  why  I  advised  an  immediate  investiga- 
tion. I  did  not  care  to  write  a  death  certificate." 

"You  have  no  hypothesis?" 

"If  she  died  from  any  natural  organic  disorder, 
the  signs  were  lacking  by  which  I  could  trace  it. 
Everything  indicates  the  opposite,  however.  It 
would  be  hard  for  me  to  say  whether  the  paralysis 
of  respiration  or  of  the  heart  actually  caused  her 
death.  If  it  was  due  to  poison—  Well,  to  me  the 
whole  affair  is  shrouded  in  mystery.  The  symp- 

14 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

toms  indicated  nothing  I  could  recognize  with  any 
degree  of  certainty." 

Kennedy  stooped  over,  making  a  superficial 
examination  of  the  girl.  I  saw  that  some  fault 
odor  caught  his  nostrils,  for  he  remained  poised  a 
moment,  inhaling  reflectively,  his  eyes  clouded  in 
thought.  Then  he  went  to  the  windows,  raising 
the  shades  an  additional  few  inches  each,  but  that 
did  not  seem  to  give  him  the  light  he  wished. 

In  the  room  were  the  portable  arcs  used  hi  the 
making  of  scenes  in  an  actual  interior  setting. 
The  connections  ran  to  heavy  insulated  junction 
boxes  at  the  ends  of  two  lines  of  stiff  black  stage 
cable.  Near  the  door  the  circuits  were  joined  and 
a  single  lead  of  the  big  duplex  cord  ran  out  along 
the  polished  hardwood  floor,  carried  presumably 
to  the  house  circuit  at  a  fuse  box  where  sufficient 
amperage  was  available.  Kennedy's  eyes  followed 
out  the  wires  quickly.  Then,  motioning  to  me  to 
help,  he  wheeled  one  of  the  heavy  stands  around 
and  adjusted  the  hood  so  that  the  full  strength  of 
the  light  would  be  cast  upon  Stella.  The  arc  in 
place,  he  threw  the  switch,  and  in  the  sputtering 
flood  of  illumination  dropped  to  his  knees,  taking 
a  powerful  pocket  lens  from  his  waistcoat  and 
beginning  an  inch  by  inch  examination  of  her  skin. 

I  gained  a  fresh  realization  of  the  beauty  of  the 
star  as  she  lay  under  the  dazzling  electric  glow,  and 

15 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

in  particular  I  noticed  the  small  amount  of  make- 
up she  had  used  and  the  natural  firmness  of  her 
flesh.  She  was  dressed  in  a  modish,  informal  dinner 
dress,  of  embroidered  satin,  cut  fairly  low  at  front 
and  back  and  with  sleeves  of  some  gauzelike  ma- 
terial reaching  not  halfway  to  her  elbow,  hardly 
sleeves  at  all,  in  fact. 

Kennedy  with  his  glass  went  over  her  features 
with  extreme  care.  I  saw  that  he  drew  her  hair 
back,  and  that  then  he  parted  it,  to  examine  her 
scalp,  and  I  wondered  what  infinitesimal  clue  might 
be  the  object  of  his  search.  I  had  learned,  how- 
ever, never  to  question  him  while  he  was  at  work. 

With  his  eye  glued  to  his  lens  he  made  his  way 
about  and  around  her  neck,  and  down  and  over  her 
throat  and  chest  so  far  as  it  remained  unprotected 
by  the  silk  of  her  gown.  With  the  aid  of  Mackay 
he  turned  her  over  to  examine  her  back.  Next  he 
returned  the  body  to  its  former  position  and  began 
to  inspect  the  arms.  Very  suddenly  something 
caught  his  eye  on  the  inside  of  her  right  forearm. 
He  grunted  with  satisfaction,  straightened,  pulled 
the  switch  of  the  arc,  wiped  his  eyes,  which  were 
watering. 

"Find  anything,  Mr.  Kennedy?"  Doctor  Blake 
seemed  to  understand,  to  some  extent,  the  purpose 
of  the  examination. 

Kennedy  did  not  answer,  probably  preoccupied 

16 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

with  theories  which  I  could  see  were  forming  in  his 
mind. 

The  library  was  a  huge  room  of  greater  length 
than  breadth.  At  one  end  were  wide  French 
windows  looking  out  upon  the  garden  and  summer 
house.  The  door  to  the  hallway  and  living  room 
was  very  broad,  with  heavy  sliding  panels  and  rich 
portieres  of  a  velours  almost  the  tint  of  the  wood- 
work. Between  the  door,  situated  in  the  side  wall 
near  the  opposite  end,  and  the  windows,  was  a 
magnificent  stone  fireplace  with  charred  logs  testi- 
fying to  its  frequent  use.  The  couch  where  Stella 
lay  had  been  drawn  back  from  its  normal  position 
before  the  fire,  together  with  a  huge  table  of 
carved  walnut.  The  other  two  walls  were  an  un- 
broken succession  of  shelves,  reaching  to  the 
ceiling  and  literally  packed  with  books. 

Facing  the  windows  and  the  door,  so  as  to  include 
the  fireplace  and  the  wide  sweep  of  the  room  within 
range,  were  two  cameras  still  set  up,  the  legs  of 
their  tripods  nested,  probably  left  exactly  as  they 
were  at  the  moment  of  Stella's  collapse.  I  touched 
the  handle  of  one,  a  Bell  &  Howell,  and  saw  that 
it  was  threaded,  that  the  film  had  not  been  dis- 
turbed. The  lights,  staggered  and  falling  away 
from  the  camera  lines,  were  arranged  to  focus  their 
illumination  on  the  action  of  the  scenes.  There 
were  four  arcs  and  two  small  portable  banks  of 

17 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

Cooper-Hewitts,  the  latter  used  to  cut  the  sharp 
shadows  and  give  a  greater  evenness  to  the  pho- 
tography. Also  there  were  diffusers  constructed 
of  sheets  of  white  cloth  stretched  taut  on  frames. 
These  reflected  light  upward  upon  the  faces  of  the 
actors,  softening  the  lower  features,  and  so  valuable 
in  adding  to  the  attractiveness  of  the  women  in 
particular. 

All  this  I  had  learned  from  visits  to  a  studio 
with  the  Star's  photoplay  editor.  I  was  anxious 
to  impress  my  knowledge  upon  Kennedy.  He  gave 
me  no  opportunity,  however,  but  wheeled  upon 
Mackay  suddenly. 

"Send  in  the  electrician,"  he  ordered.  "Keep 
everyone  else  out  until  I'm  ready  to  examine  them." 

While  the  district  attorney  hurried  to  the  sliding 
doors,  guarded  on  their  farther  side  by  one  of  the 
amateur  deputies  he  had  impressed  into  service, 
Kennedy  swung  the  stand  of  the  arc  he  had  used 
back  into  the  place  unaided.  I  noticed  that 
Doctor  Blake  was  nervously  interested  in  spite  of 
his  professional  poise.  I  certainly  was  bursting 
with  curiosity  to  know  what  Kennedy  had  found. 

The  electrician,  a  wizened  veteran  of  the  studios, 
with  a  bald  head  which  glistened  rather  ridicu- 
lously, entered  as  though  he  expected  to  be  held 
for  the  death  of  the  star  on  the  spot. 

"I  don't  know  nothin',"  he  began,  before  anyone 

18 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

could  start  to  question  him.  "I  was  outside  when 
they  yelled,  honest!  I  was  seeing  whether  m'lead 
was  getting  hot,  and  I  heard  'em  call  to  douse  the 
glim,  an' — " 

"Put  on  all  your  lights" — Kennedy  was  unusu- 
ally sharp,  although  it  was  plain  he  held  no  sus- 
picion of  this  man,  as  he  added — "just  as  you  had 
them." 

As  the  electrician  went  from  stand  to  stand 
sulkily,  there  was  a  sputter  from  the  arcs,  almost 
deafening  in  the  confines  of  the  room,  and  quite  a 
bit  of  fine  white  smoke.  But  in  a  moment  the 
corner  of  the  library  constituting  the  set  was 
brilliantly,  dazzlingly  lighted.  To  me  it  was  quite 
like  being  transported  into  one  of  the  big  studios 
in  the  city. 

"Is  this  the  largest  portion  of  the  room  they 
used?"  Kennedy  asked.  "Did  you  have  your 
stands  any  farther  back?  " 

"This  was  the  biggest  lay-out,  sir!"  replied  the 
man. 

"Were  all  the  scenes  in  which  Miss  Lamar  ap- 
peared before  her  death  in  this  corner  of  the  room?" 

"Yes,  sir!" 

"And  this  was  the  way  you  had  the  scene  lighted 
when  she  dropped  unconscious?" 

"Yes,  sir!  I  pulled  m'lights  an' — an'  they  lifted 
her  up  and  put  her  right  there  where  she  is,  sir  I" 

19 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

Kennedy  paid  no  attention  to  the  last;  in  fact, 
I  doubt  whether  he  heard  it.  Dropping  to  hands 
and  knees  immediately,  he  began  a  search  of  the 
floor  and  carpet  as  minutely  painstaking  as  the 
inspection  he  had  given  Stella's  own  person.  In- 
stinctively I  drew  back,  to  be  out  of  his  way,  as 
did  Doctor  Blake  and  Mackay.  The  electrician, 
I  noticed,  seemed  to  grasp  now  the  reason  for  the 
summons  which  undoubtedly  had  frightened  him 
badly.  He  gave  his  attention  to  his  lights,  stroking 
a  refractory  Cooper-Hewitt  tube  for  all  the  world 
as  if  some  minor  scene  in  the  story  were  being 
photographed.  It  was  hard  to  realize  that  it  was 
not  another  picture  scene,  but  that  Craig  Kennedy, 
in  my  opinion  the  founder  of  the  scientific  school 
of  modern  detectives,  was  searching  out  in  this 
strange  environment  the  clue  to  a  real  murder  so 
mysterious  that  the  very  cause  of  death  was  as 
yet  undetermined. 

I  was  hoping  for  a  display  of  the  remarkable 
brilliance  Craig  had  shown  in  so  many  of  the  cases 
brought  to  his  attention.  I  half  expected  to  see 
him  rise  from  the  floor  with  some  tiny  something 
in  his  hand,  some  object  overlooked  by  everyone 
else,  some  tangible  evidence  which  would  lead  to 
the  immediate  apprehension  of  the  perpetrator  of 
the  crime.  That  Stella  Lamar  had  met  her  death 

by  foul  means  I  did  not  doubt  for  an  instant,  and 

20 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

so  I  waited  feverishly  for  the  conclusion  of  Ken- 
nedy's search. 

As  it  happened,  this  was  not  destined  to  be  one  of 
his  oases  cleared  up  in  a  brief  few  hours  of  intensive 
effort.  He  covered  every  inch  of  the  floor  within 
the  illuminated  area;  then  he  turned  his  attention 
to  the  walls  and  furniture  and  the  rest  of  the  room 
in  somewhat  more  perfunctory,  but  no  less  skillful 
manner.  Fully  fifteen  minutes  elapsed,  but  I  knew 
from  his  expression  that  he  had  discovered  nothing. 
In  a  wringing  perspiration  from  the  heat  of  the 
arcs,  but  nevertheless  glad  to  have  had  the  intense 
light  at  his  disposal,  he  motioned  to  the  electrician 
to  turn  them  off  and  to  leave  the  room. 

"Find  anything,  Mr.  Kennedy?"  queried  the 
physician  once  more. 

Kennedy  beckoned  all  of  us  to  the  side  of  the  ill- 
fated  actress.  Lifting  the  right  arm,  finding  the 
spot  which  had  caused  his  exclamation  before,  he 
handed  his  pocket  lens  to  Doctor  Blake.  After  a 
moment  a  low  whistle  escaped  the  lips  of  the 
physician. 

Next  it  was  my  turn.  As  I  stooped  over  I  caught, 
above  the  faint  scent  of  imported  perfume  which 
she  affected,  a  peculiar  putrescent  odor.  This  it 
was  which  had  caught  Kennedy's  nostrils.  Then 
through  the  glass  I  could  detect  upon  her  forearm 

the  tiniest  possible  scratch  ending  in  an  almost 

21 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

invisible  puncture,  such  as  might  have  been  made 
by  a  very  sharp  needle  or  the  point  of  an  incredibly 
fine  hypodermic  syringe.  Drawing  back,  I  glanced 
again  at  her  face,  which  I  had  already  noted  was 
blotched  and  somewhat  swollen  beneath  the  make- 
up. Again  I  thought  that  the  muscles  were  con- 
torted, that  the  eyes  were  bulging  slightly,  that 
there  was  a  bluish  tinge  to  her  skin  such  as  in  cy- 
anosis or  asphyxiation.  It  may  have  been  imagi- 
nation, but  I  was  now  sure  that  her  expression 
revealed  pain  or  fear  or  both. 

When  I  looked  at  her  first  I  had  been  unable  to 
forget  my  impression  of  years.  Before  me  there 
had  been  the  once  living  form  of  Stella  Lamar, 
whom  I  had  dreamed  of  meeting  and  whom  I  had 
never  viewed  in  actual  life.  I  had  lacked  the  pene- 
tration to  see  beneath  the  glamour.  But  to  Ken- 
nedy there  had  been  signs  of  the  poisoning  at  once. 
Doctor  Blake  had  searched  merely  for  the  evi- 
dences of  the  commoner  drugs,  or  the  usual  diseases 
such  as  cause  sudden  death.  I  recalled  the  cyanides. 
I  thought  of  curare,  or  woorali,  the  South  American 
arrow  poison  with  which  Kennedy  once  had  dealt. 
Had  Stella  received  an  injection  of  some  new  and 
curious  substance? 

Mackay  glanced  up  from  his  inspection  of  the 
mark  on  the  arm. 

"It's  an  awfully  tiny  scratch!"  he  exclaimed. 

22 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

Kennedy  smiled.  "Yet,  Mackay,  it  probably 
was  the  cause  of  her  death." 

"How?" 

"That — that  is  the  problem  before  us.  When 
we  learn  just  exactly  how  she  scratched  herself,  or 
was  scratched — "  Kennedy  paced  up  and  down 
in  front  of  the  fireplace.  Then  he  confronted 
each  of  us  in  turn,  suddenly  serious.  "Not  a  word 
of  what  I  have  discovered,"  he  warned. 


Ill 

TANGLED   MOTIVES 

you  wish  to  examine  the  people  now?" 
Mackay  asked. 

Kennedy  hesitated.  "First  I  want  to  make 
sure  of  the  evidence  concerning  her  actual  death. 
Can  you  arrange  to  have  the  clothes  she  has  on, 
and  those  she  brought  with  her,  all  of  them  bundled 
up  and  sent  in  to  my  laboratory,  together  with 
samples  of  her  body  fluids  as  soon  as  the  coroner 
can  supply  you?" 

Mackay  nodded.  This  pleased  him.  This  seemed 
to  be  tangible  action,  promising  tangible  results. 

Again  Kennedy  glanced  about  in  thought.  I 
knew  that  the  scratch  was  worrying  him.  "Did 
she  change  her  clothes  out  here?"  he  inquired. 

The  district  attorney  brightened.  "She  dressed 
in  a  small  den  just  off  the  living  room.  I  have  a 
man  posted  and  the  door  closed.  Nothing  has 
been  disturbed." 

He  started  to  lead  the  way  without  further  word 

24 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

from  Kennedy,  proud  to  have  been  able  once  more 
to  demonstrate  his  foresight 

As  we  left  the  library,  entering  the  living  room, 
there  was  an  appreciable  hush.  Here  were  grouped 
the  others  of  the  party  brought  out  by  the  picture 
company,  a  constrained  gathering  of  folk  who  had 
little  in  common  beyond  the  highly  specialized 
needs  of  the  new  art  of  the  screen,  an  assembly  of 
souls  who  had  been  forced  to  wait  during  all  the 
time  required  for  the  trip  of  Kennedy  and  myself 
out  from  New  York,  who  were  compelled  to  wait 
now  until  he  should  be  ready  to  examine  them. 

I  picked  out  the  electrician  hi  the  semigloom 
and  with  him  his  fellow  members  of  the  technical 
staff  needed  in  the  taking  of  the  scenes  hi  the 
library.  The  camera  men  I  guessed,  and  a  property 
boy,  and  an  assistant  director.  The  last,  at  any 
event,  of  all  those  in  the  huge  room,  had  sum- 
moned up  sufficient  nonchalance  to  bend  his  mind 
to  details  of  his  work.  I  saw  that  he  was  thumbing 
a  copy  of  the  scenario,  or  detailed  working  manu- 
script of  the  story,  making  notations  in  some  kind 
of  little  book,  and  it  was  that  which  enabled  me 
to  establish  his  identity  at  a  glance. 

In  a  different  corner  were  the  principals,  two 
men  and  a  girl  still  in  make-up,  and  with  them  the 
director,  and  Manton  and  Phelps.  Apart  from 
everyone  else,  in  a  sort  of  social  ostracism  common 

3  25 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

to  the  studios,  the  two  five-dollar-a-day  extras 
waited,  a  butler  and  a  maid,  also  in  make-up. 
Oddly  enough  the  total  number  of  these  material 
witnesses  to  the  tragedy  was  just  thirteen,  and  I 
wondered  if  they  had  noticed  the  fact. 

Doctor  Blake  turned  to  Kennedy  the  moment  we 
left  the  library. 

"Do  you  feel  it  is  necessary  for  me  to  remain  any 
longer?"  he  asked.  He  was  apologetic,  yet  dis- 
tinctly impatient.  "I  have  neglected  several  very 
important  calls  as  it  is." 

Kennedy  and  Mackay  both  hastened  to  assure 
the  physician  that  they  appreciated  his  co-opera- 
tion and  that  they  would  spare  him  as  much 
notoriety  and  inconvenience  as  possible.  Then 
the  three  of  us  hurried  across  and  to  the  little  den 
which  had  been  converted  into  a  dressing  room  for 
Stella's  use. 

Here  were  all  the  evidences  of  femininity,  the  little 
touches  which  a  woman  can  impart  to  the  smallest 
corner  in  a  few  brief  moments  of  occupancy.  It 
was  a  tiny  alcove  shut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  living 
room  by  heavy  silk  hangings,  drawn  now  and 
pinned  together  so  as  to  assure  her  the  privacy  she 
wished.  The  one  window  was  high  and  fitted  with 
leaded  glass,  but  it  was  raised  and  afforded  the 
maximum  of  light.  Stella's  traveling  bag  sprawled 
wide  open,  with  many  of  her  effects  strewn  about  in 

26 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

attractive  disarray.  Her  suit,  in  which  she  had 
made  the  trip  to  Tarrytown,  was  thrown  carelessly 
over  the  back  of  a  chair.  Her  mirror  was  fastened 
up  ruthlessly,  upon  a  handsome  woven  Oriental 
hanging,  with  a  long  hatpin.  Powder  was  spilled 
upon  the  couch  cover,  another  Oriental  fabric,  and 
her  little  box  of  rouge  lay  face  downward  on  the 
floor. 

As  we  pulled  the  curtains  aside  I  caught  the  per- 
fume which  still  clung  to  her  clothes  in  the  library 
beyond.  As  Mackay  sniffed  also,  Kennedy  smiled. 

"Coty's  Jacqueminot  rose,"  he  remarked. 

With  his  usual  swift  and  practiced  certainty 
Kennedy  then  inspected  the  extemporized  dressing 
room.  He  seemed  to  satisfy  himself  that  no  subtle 
attack  had  been  made  upon  the  girl  here,  although 
I  doubt  that  he  had  held  any  such  supposition 
seriously  in  the  first  place.  In  my  association  of 
several  years  with  Kennedy,  following  our  first 
intimacy  of  college  days,  I  had  learned  that  his 
success  as  a  scientific  detective  was  the  result 
wholly  of  his  thoroughness  of  method.  To  watch 
him  had  become  a  never-ending  delight,  even  in 
the  dull  preliminary  work  of  a  case  as  baffling  as 
this  one.  Mackay  also  seemed  content  just  to 
enact  the  role  of  spectator. 

Kennedy  thumbed  through  the  delicate  intima- 
cies of  her  traveling  bag  with  the  keen,  impersonal 

27 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

manner  which  always  distinguished  him;  then  he 
found  her  beaded  handbag  and  proceeded  to  rum- 
mage through  that.  Suddenly  he  paused  as  he 
unfolded  a  piece  of  note  paper,  and  we  gathered 
around  to  read: 

MY  DEAR  STELLA:  Have  something  very  important  to  tell 
you.  Will  you  lunch  Tuesday  at  the  P.  G.  tearoom? 

LARRY. 

' '  Tuesday — ' '  murmured  Kennedy.  ' '  And  this  is 
Monday.  Who — who  is  Larry,  I  wonder?" 

I  hastened  to  answer  the  question  for  him.  It 
was  my  first  opportunity  to  display  my  knowledge 
of  the  picture  players.  "Larry — that's  Lawrence, 
Lawrence  Millard!"  I  exclaimed.  Then  I  went  on 
to  tell  him  of  the  divorce  and  the  circumstances 
surrounding  Stella's  life  as  I  knew  it.  "It — it 
looks,"  I  concluded,  "as  if  they  might  have  been  on 
the  point  of  composing  their  differences,  after  all." 

Kennedy  nodded.  I  could  see,  however,  that  he 
made  a  mental  note  of  his  intention  to  question  the 
girl's  former  husband. 

All  at  once  another  thought  struck  me  and  I 
became  eager.  It  was  a  possible  explanation  of  the 
mystery. 

"Listen,  Craig,"  I  began.  "Suppose  Millard 
wanted  to  make  up  and  she  didn't.  Suppose  that 
she  refused  to  see  him  or  to  meet  him.  Suppose 
that  in  a  jealous  fit  he — " 

28 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

"No,  Walter!"  Kennedy  headed  me  off  with  a 
smile.  "This  wasn't  an  ordinary  murder  of  pas- 
sion. This  was  well  thought  out  and  well  executed. 
Not  one  medical  examiner  in  a  thousand  would 
have  found  that  tiny  scratch.  It  may  be  very 
difficult  yet  to  determine  the  exact  cause  of  death. 
This,  my  dear  Jameson" —  it  was  playful  irony — 
"is  a  scientific  crime." 

"ButMillard— " 

"Of  course!  Anyone  may  be  the  culprit.  Yet 
you  tell  me  Millard  did  not  contest  her  divorce  and 
that  it  would  have  been  very  easy  for  him  to  file  a 
countersuit  because  everyone  knew  of  her  relation- 
ship with  Manton.  That,  offhand,  shows  no  ill- 
will  on  his  part.  And  now  we  find  this  note  from 
him,  which  at  least  is  friendly  in  tone — " 

I  shrugged  my  shoulders.  It  was  the  same  blind 
alley  in  which  my  thoughts  had  strayed  upon  the 
train  on  our  way  out. 

"It's  too  early  to  begin  to  try  to  fasten  the  guilt 
upon  anyone,"  Kennedy  added,  as  we  returned  to 
the  library  through  the  living  room.  Then  he 
turned  to  Mackay.  "Have  you  succeeded  in 
gleaning  any  facts  about  the  life  of  Miss  Lamar?" 
he  asked.  "Anything  which  might  point  to  a  mo- 
tive, so  that  I  can  approach  the  case  from  both 
directions?" 

"If  you  ask  me,"  the  little  district  attorney  re- 

29 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

joined,  "it's  a  matter  of  tangled  motives  through- 
out. I — I  had  no  sword  to  cut  the  Gordian  knot 
and  so" —  graciously — "I  sent  for  you." 

"What  do  you  mean  by  tangled  motives?" 
Kennedy  ignored  the  other's  compliment. 

"Well!"  Mackay  indicated  me.  "Mr.  Jameson 
explained  about  her  divorce.  No  one  heard  whom 
she  named  as  corespondent.  That's  an  unknown 
woman  in  the  case,  although  it  may  not  mean 
anything  at  all.  Then  there's  Lloyd  Manton  and 
all  the  talk  about  his  affair  with  Miss  Lamar. 
Some  one  told  one  of  my  men  that  Manton's  wife 
has  left  him  on  that  account." 

"Did  you  question  Manton?7 

"No,  I  thought  I  ought  to  leave  all  that  to  you. 
I  was  afraid  I  might  put  them  on  their  guard." 

' '  Good ! ' '  Kennedy  was  pleased.  ' '  Did  you  learn 
anything  else?" 

"This  deputy  of  mine  obtained  all  these  things 
by  gossiping  with  the  girl  who  plays  the  maid,  and 
so  they  may  not  be  reliable.  But  among  the 
players  it  is  reported  that  Werner,  the  director, 
was  having  an  affair  with  Stella  also,  and  that 
Merle  Shirley,  the  'heavy'  man,  was  seen  with  her 
a  great  deal  recently,  and  that  Jack  Gordon,  the 
leading  man,  who  was  engaged  to  marry  her  as 
soon  as  her  decree  was  final,  was  jealous  as  a  con- 
sequence, and  that  Miss  Loring,  playing  the  vampire 

30 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

in  the  story  and  engaged  to  Shirley,  was  even  more 
bitter  against  the  deceased  than  Gordon,  Miss 
Lamar's  fiance. 

"That  made  eight  people  with  possible  motives 
for  the  crime.  When  I  got  that  far  I  gave  it  up. 
In  fact" — Mackay  lowered  his  voice,  suddenly — • 
"I  don't  like  the  attitude  of  Emery  Phelps.  This 
is  his  house,  you  know,  and  he  is  the  financial 
backer  of  Manton  Pictures,  yet  there  seems  to  be 
an  undercurrent  of  friction  between  Manton  and 
himself.  I — I  wanted  him  to  show  me  some  detail 
of  the  arrangement  of  things  in  the  library,  but  he 
wouldn't  come  into  the  room.  He  said  he  didn't 
want  to  look  at  Miss  Lamar.  There — there  was 
something — and,  I  don't  know.  If  he  is  con- 
cerned in  any  way — that  would  make  nine." 
"You  think  Miss  Lamar  and  Phelps— 
Mackay  shook  his  head.  "I  don't  know." 
Kennedy  turned  to  me,  expression  really  serious. 
"Is  this  the  way  they  carry  on  in  the  picture  world, 
Walter?"  he  asked.  "Is  this  the  usual  thing  or — 
or  an  exception?" 

I  flushed.  "It's  very  much  an  exception,"  I 
insisted.  "The  film  people  are  just  like  other 
people,  some  good  and  some  bad.  Probably  three- 
quarters  of  all  this  is  gossip." 

"I  hope  so."  He  straightened.  "The  only 
thing  to  do  is  to  go  after  them  one  at  a  time  and 

31 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

disentangle  all  the  conflicting  threads.  It  looks 
as  though  there  will  be  any  number  of  possible 
false  leads  and  so  we  must  be  careful  and  deliberate. 
I  think  I'll  question  each  in  turn — here." 

He  walked  over  to  the  fireplace,  stopping  for 
just  a  moment  to  glance  at  the  body  of  Stella. 
Then  he  pulled  the  blinds  down  halfway,  so  that 
the  room  seemed  somber  and  gruesome.  He  drew 
a  chair  so  that  the  different  individuals  as  he 
examined  them,  would  be  unable  to  lose  sight  of  the 
dead  woman.  His  arrangements  completed,  he 
faced  the  district  attorney. 

"Manton  first,"  he  directed. 

In  an  instant  I  caught  the  psychology  of  it — the 
now  darkened  library,  the  beautiful  body  still 
lying  on  the  davenport,  the  quiet  and  quick  arrival 
of  ourselves.  If  anything  could  be  extracted  from 
these  people,  surely  it  would  be  betrayed  under 
these  surroundings. 


IV 

THE   FATAL  SCRIPT 

T  HAD  no  real  opportunity  to  study  Manton  when 
*  he  greeted  us  upon  our  arrival,  and  at  that  time 
neither  Kennedy  nor  I  possessed  even  a  passing 
realization  of  the  problem  before  us.  Now  I  felt 
that  I  was  ready  to  grasp  at  any  possible  motive 
for  the  crime.  I  was  prepared  to  suspect  any  or 
all  of  the  nine  people  enumerated  by  Mackay,  so 
far  as  I  could  speak  for  myself,  and  at  the  very 
least  I  was  certain  that  this  was  one  of  the  most 
baffling  cases  ever  brought  to  Craig's  attention. 

Yet  I  was  sure  he  would  solve  it.  I  waited  most 
impatiently  for  the  outcome  of  his  examination  of 
Lloyd  Manton. 

The  producer-promoter  was  a  well-set-up  man 
just  approaching  middle  age.  About  him  was  a 
certain  impression  of  great  physical  strength,  of 
bulk  without  flabbiness,  and  in  particular  I  noticed 

the  formation  of  his  head,  the  square  broad  develop- 

33 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

ment  which  indicated  his  intellectual  power,  and 
I  found,  too,  a  fascinating  quality  about  his  eyes, 
deeply  placed  and  of  a  warm  dark  gray-brown, 
which  seemed  to  hold  a  fundamental  sincerity 
which,  I  imagined,  made  the  man  almost  irresist- 
ible in  a  business  deal. 

His  weakness,  so  far  as  I  could  ascertain  it,  was 
revealed  by  his  mouth  and  chin,  and  by  a  certain 
nervousness  of  his  hands,  hands  where  a  square, 
practical  palm  was  belied  by  the  slight  tapering  of 
his  fingers,  the  mark  of  the  dreamer.  His  mouth 
was  unquestionably  sensuous,  with  the  lips  full  and 
now  and  then  revealing  out  of  the  studied  prac- 
ticed calm  of  his  face  an  almost  imperceptible 
twitching,  as  though  to  betray  a  flash  of  emotion, 
or  fear.  His  chin  was  feminine,  softening  his 
expression  and  showing  that  his  feelings  would 
overbalance  the  cool  calculation  denoted  by  his 
eyes  and  the  rather  heavy  level  brows  above. 

As  he  entered  the  room,  taking  the  chair  indicated 
by  Kennedy,  he  seemed  perfectly  cool  and  his 
glance,  as  it  strayed  to  the  lifeless  form  of  Stella, 
revealed  his  iron  self-control.  The  little  signs 
which  I  have  mentioned,  which  betrayed  the  real 
man  beneath,  were  only  disclosed  to  me  little  by 
little  as  Kennedy's  questioning  progressed. 

"Tell  me  just  what  happened?"  Kennedy  began. 

"Well — "  Manton  resoonded  quickly  enough,  but 

34 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

then  he  stopped  and  proceeded  as  though  he  chose 
each  word  with  care,  as  if  he  framed  each  sentence 
so  that  there  would  be  no  misunderstanding,  no 
chance  of  wrong  impression;  all  of  which  pleased 
Kennedy. 

"In  the  scene  we  were  taking,"  he  went  on, 
"Stella  was  crouched  down  on  the  floor,  bending 
over  her  father,  who  had  just  been  murdered.  She 
was  sobbing.  All  at  once  the  lights  were  to  spring 
up.  The  young  hero  was  to  dash  through  the  set 
and  she  was  to  see  him  and  scream  out  in  terror. 
The  first  part  went  all  right.  But  when  the  lights 
flashed  on,  instead  of  looking  up  and  screaming, 
Stella  sort  of  crumpled  and  collapsed  on  top  of 
Werner,  who  was  playing  the  father.  I  yelled  to 
stop  the  cameras  and  rushed  in.  We  picked  her  up 
and  put  her  on  the  couch.  Some  one  sent  for  the 
doctor,  but  she  died  without  saying  a  w^ord.  I — I 
haven't  the  slightest  idea  what  happened.  At  first 
I  thought  it  was  heart  trouble." 
"Did  she  have  heart  trouble?" 
"No,  that  is — not  that  I  ever  heard." 
Kennedy  hesitated.  "Why  were  you  taking 
these  scenes  out  here?" 

It  was  on  the  tip  of  my  tongue  to  answer  for 
Manton.  I  knew  that  at  one  time  many  fine 
interiors  were  actually  taken  in  houses,  to  save 
expense.  I  was  sorry  that  Kennedy  should  draw 

35 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

any  conclusion  from  a  fact  which  I  thought  was 
too  well  known  to  require  explanation.  Manton's 
answer,  however,  proved  a  distinct  surprise  to  me. 

"Mr.  Phelps  asked  us  to  use  his  library  in  this 
picture." 

"Wouldn't  it  have  been  easier  and  cheaper  in 
the  long  run  to  reproduce  it  in  the  studio?" 

Manton  glanced  up  at  Kennedy,  echoing  my 
thought.  Had  Kennedy,  after  all,  some  knowledge 
of  motion  pictures  stored  away  with  his  vast  fund 
of  general  and  unusual  information? 

"Yes,"  replied  the  producer.  "It  would  save 
the  trip  out  here,  the  loss  of  tune,  the  inconvenience 
— why,  in  an  actual  dollars  and  cents  compari- 
son, with  overhead  and  everything  taken  into 
account,  the  building  of  a  set  like  this  is  nothing 
nowadays." 

"Do  you  know  Mr.  Phelps's  reason?" 

Manton  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "Just  a  whim, 
and  we  had  to  humor  it." 

"Mr.  Phelps  is  interested  in  the  company?" 

"Yes.  He  recently  bought  up  all  the  stock  ex- 
cept my  own.  He  is  in  absolute  control,  finan- 
cially." 

"What  is  the  story  you  are  making?  I  mean,  I 
want  to  understand  just  exactly  what  happened  in 
the  scenes  you  were  photographing  to-day.  It  is 
essential  that  I  learn  how  everyone  was  sup- 

36 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

posed  to  act  and  how  they  did  act.  I  must 
find  out  every  trivial  little  detail.  Do  you  fol- 
low me?" 

Manton's  mouth  set  suddenly,  showing  that  it 
possessed  a  latent  quality  of  firmness.  He  glanced 
about  the  room,  then  rose,  went  to  the  farther  end 
of  the  long  table,  and  returned  with  a  thick  sheaf 
of  manuscript  bound  at  the  side  hi  stiff  board  covers. 
"This  is  the  scenario,  the  script  of  the  detailed 
action,"  he  explained. 

As  Kennedy  took  the  binder,  Manton  opened  it 
and  turned  past  several  sheets  of  tabulation  and 
lists,  the  index  to  the  sets  and  exterior  locations, 
the  characters  and  extras,  the  changes  of  clothes, 
and  other  technical  detail.  "The  scenes  we  are 
taking  here,"  he  went  on,  "are  the  opening  scenes 
of  the  story.  We  left  them  until  now  because  it 
meant  the  long  trip  out  to  Tarrytown  and  because 
it  would  take  us  away  from  the  studio  while  they 
were  putting  up  the  largest  two  sets,  a  banquet  and 
a  ballroom  which  need  the  entire  floor  space  of  the 
studio."  He  turned  over  two  or  three  pages, 
pointing.  "We  had  taken  up  to  scene  thirteen; 
from  scenes  one  to  thirteen  just  as  you  have  them 
in  order  there.  It — it  was  in  the  unlucky  thir- 
teenth that  she" —  was  it  my  imagination  or  did 
he  tremble,  for  just  an  instant,  violently?  — "that 
she  died." 

37 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

Kennedy  started  to  read  the  script.     I  hurried 
to  his  side,  glancing  over  his  shoulder. 


THE  BLACK  TERROR 
FEATURING  STELLA  LAMAB 

SCENE  1 

Location. — Remsen  library.  This  is  a  modern,  luxurious 
library  set  with  a  long  table  in  the  center  of  the  room,  books 
around  the  walls,  French  windows  leading  from  the  rear,  and 
an  entrance  through  a  hallway  to  the  right  through  a  pair  of 
portieres.  Note :  E.  P.  wishes  us  to  use  his  library  at  Tarrytown. 

Action. — Open  diaphragm  slowly  on  darkened  set  as  a  spot 
of  light  is  being  played  on  the  walls  and  French  windows  in 
the  rear.  As  the  diaphragm  opens  slowly  the  light  vanishes, 
leaving  the  scene  dark  at  times  and  then  brightened  until,  as 
the  diaphragm  opens  full,  we  discover  that  the  light  is  that  of 
a  burglar's  flash  light,  traveling  over  the  walls  of  the  library. 
When  the  diaphragm  is  fully  opened  we  discover  also  a  faint 
line  of  light  streaming  through  the  almost  closed  portieres 
leading  to  the  hallway  outside.  This  ray  of  light,  striking 
along  the  floor,  pauses  by  the  library  table,  just  disclosing  the 
edge  of  it  but  not  revealing  anything  else  in  the  room.  The 
spotlight  in  the  hands  of  a  shadowy  figure  roves  across  the  wall 
and  to  the  portieres.  As  it  pauses  there  the  portieres  move 
and  the  fingers  of  a  girl  are  seen  on  the  edge  of  the  silk.  A  bare 
and  beautiful  arm  is  thrust  through  the  portieres  almost  to 
the  shoulder,  and  it  begins  to  move  the  portieres  aside,  reaching 
upward  to  pull  the  curtains  apart  at  the  rings. 

SCENE  2 

Location. — Remsen  library.     Close  foreground  of  portieres. 
Action. — Our  heroine  parts  the  portieres  and  stands  revealed 

38 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

in  the  spotlight's  glare.  She  is  in  dinner  gown  and  about  her 
throat  is  a  peculiar  locket  of  flashing  jewels.  She  cries  out  and 
backs  away,  closing  the  portieres.  The  spotlight  retreats  from 
the  curtains,  leaving  them  dark. 

SCENE  3 

Location. — Hallway,  Remsen  house.  Close  foreground  of 
portieres  leading  to  library.  This  hallway  is  lighted. 

Action. — The  girl  holding  the  portieres  shut  screams  for 
help. 

SCENE  4 

Location. — Foot  of  stairway,  Remsen  house. 
Action. — The  butler  and  maid  are  discovered  talking.    They 
hear  the  girl's  scream  and  start  running. 

SCENE  5 

Location. — Hallway,  Remsen  house.  Close  foreground  of 
portieres. 

Action. — The  girl  hears  help  coming  and  glances  off  to  indi- 
cate that  she  sees  the  butler  and  the  maid.  She  continues  to 
cling  to  the  closed  curtains. 

SCENE  6 

Location. — Remsen  library.    Full  shot. 

Action. — The  unknown  drops  the  spotlight  to  the  floor  and 
we  first  see  his  legs  crossing  the  rays  of  light  on  the  floor. 
Then  the  spotlight  rolls,  revealing  the  body  of  an  elderly  man 
of  the  American  millionaire  type,  lying  crumpled  against  the 
table.  Finally  it  rolls  a  little  farther  and  stops,  directing  its 
rays  into  the  fireplace. 

SCENE  7 

Location. — Remsen  hallway,  outside  library. 
Action. — The  girl  indicates  determined  resolve.    She  throws 
apart  the  portieres  with  a  quick  motion  of  her  arms  and  dashes 

39 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

inside.    The  portieres  close  after  her.    The  butler  and  maid 
come  on  running  and  looking  about. 

SCENE  8 

Location. — Remsen  library.    Full   shot. 

Action. — The  spotlight  is  showing  into  the  fireplace  when 
the  girl  crosses  quickly  into  its  rays.  She  stoops  into  the  light, 
revealing  her  face  and  picking  up  the  spotlight.  She  flashes 
it  about  the  room,  pausing  as  it  strikes  the  French  windows  and 
reveals  the  murderer  making  his  escape  out  on  a  balcony  which 
is  revealed  in  the  background.  When  the  rays  of  light  reach 
the  murderer  he  deliberately  turns. 

SCENE  9 

Location. — Remsen  library.  Close  foreground  of  French 
windows. 

Action. — The  intruder,  now  in  the  close  foreground,  pauses 
as  he  is  about  to  shut  the  window  and  blinks  deliberately  into 
the  rays  of  light,  then  laughs  and  closes  the  French  windows. 

SCENE  10 

Location. — Hallway,  Remsen  home.  Close  foreground  of 
portieres  to  library. 

Action. — The  butler  and  maid  look  around  hopelessly.  A 
young  man,  the  exact  counterpart  of  the  man  who  in  the  pre- 
vious scene  looked  into  the  spotlight  at  the  French  windows, 
conies  up  to  the  butler  and  demands  to  know  what  has  hap- 
pened. The  butler  explains  hurriedly  that  he  heard  his 
mistress  cry  out  for  help.  The  young  man  steps  to  the  por- 
tieres and  pauses. 

SCENE  11 

Location. — Remsen  library.    Full  shot. 
Action. — The  girl,  using  the  spotlight,  flashes  it  about  the 
room  and  down  on  the  floor,  seeing  for  the  first  time  the  body 
of  the  American  millionaire. 

40 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

SCENE  12 

Location. — Exterior  Remsen  house.    Night  tint. 

Action. — The  murderer  scrambles  down  a  column  from  the 
upper  porch  and  leaps  to  the  ground,  darting  across  the  lawn 
out  of  the  picture. 

SCENE  13 

Location. — Remsen  library.    Full  shot. 

Action. — The  spotlight  on  the  floor  reveals  the  girl  sobbing 
over  the  body  of  the  millionaire  and  trying  to  revive  him.  She 
screams  and  cries  out.  The  portieres  are  parted  and  from  the 
lighted  hallway  we  see  the  young  man,  the  butler,  and  the 
maid,  who  enter.  The  young  man  switches  on  the  lights  and 
the  room  is  revealed.  The  three  cry  out  in  horror.  The 
young  man,  glancing  about,  leaps  toward  the  partly  opened 
French  windows,  drawing  a  revolver.  As  the  girl  sees  him 
she  screams  again  and  denotes  terror. 

Finishing  the  thirteenth  scene,  Kennedy  closed 
the  covers  and  handed  the  script  to  me.  Then  he 
confronted  Manton  once  more. 

"What  became  of  the  locket  about  the  girl's 
neck?  In  the  manuscript  Miss  Lamar  is  supposed 
to  have  a  peculiar  pendant  at  her  throat.  There 
was  none." 

"Oh  yes ! "  The  promoter  remained  a  moment  in 
thought.  "The  doctor  took  it  off  and  gave  it  to 
Bernie,  the  prop,  boy,  who's  helping  the  electrician." 

"Is  he  outside?" 

"Yes." 

"Now  try  to  remember,  Mr.  Manton."    Ken- 
4  41 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

nedy  leaned  over  very  seriously.  "Just  who  ap- 
proached closely  to  Miss  Lamar  in  the  making  of 
that  thirteenth  scene?  Who  was  near  enough  to 
have  inflicted  a  wound,  or  to  have  subjected  her, 
suppose  we  say,  to  the  fumes  of  some  subtle  poison?" 

"You  think  that — "  Manton  started  to  question 
Kennedy,  but  was  given  no  encouragement.  "Gor- 
don, the  leading  man,  passed  through  the  scene,"  he 
replied,  after  a  pause,  "but  did  not  go  very  near  her. 
Werner  was  playing  the  dead  millionaire  at  her  feet." 

"Who  is  Werner?" 

"He's  my  director.  Because  it  was  such  a  small 
part,  he  played  it  himself.  He's  only  in  the  two 
or  three  scenes  in  the  beginning  and  I  was  here  to 
be  at  the  camera." 

While  Kennedy  was  questioning  Manton  I  had 
been  glancing  through  the  script  of  the  picture. 
My  own  connection  with  the  movies  had  consisted 
largely  of  three  attempts  to  sell  stories  of  my  own 
to  the  producers.  Needless  to  remark  I  had  not 
succeeded,  in  that  regard  falling  hi  the  class  with 
some  hundreds  of  thousands  of  my  fellow  citizens. 
For  everybody  thinks  he  has  at  least  one  motion 
picture  in  him.  And  so,  though  I  had  managed  to 
visit  studios  and  meet  a  few  of  the  players,  this  was 
my  very  first  shot  at  a  manuscript  actually  in  pro- 
duction. I  took  advantage  of  Kennedy's  momen- 
tary pre-occupation  to  turn  to  Manton. 

42 


THE   FILM    MYSTERY 

"Who  wrote  this  script,  Mr.  Manton?"  I 
asked. 

"Millard!    Lawrence  Millard." 

"Millard?"  Kennedy  and  I  exclaimed,  simul- 
taneously. 

"Why,  yes!  Millard  is  still  under  contract  and 
he's  the  only  man  who  ever  could  write  scripts  for 
Stella.  We — we  tried  others  and  they  all  fliwed." 

"Is  Millard  here?" 

Manton  burst  into  laughter,  somehow  out  of 
place  in  the  room  where  we  still  were  in  the  com- 
pany of  death.  ' '  An  author  on  the  lot  at  the  filming 
of  his  picture,  to  bother  the  director  and  to  change 
everything?  Out!  When  the  scenario's  done  he's 
through.  He's  lucky  to  get  his  name  on  the  screen. 
It's  not  the  story  but  the  direction  which  counts, 
except  that  you've  got  to  have  a  good  idea  to  start 
with,  and  a  halfway  decent  script  to  make  your 
lay-outs  from.  Anyhow — "  He  sobered  a  bit, 
perhaps  realizing  that  he  was  going  counter  to  the 
tendency  to  have  the  author  on  the  lot.  "Millard 
and  Stella  weren't  on  speaking  terms.  She  di- 
vorced him,  you  know." 

"Do  you  know  much  about  the  personal  affairs 
of  Miss  Lamar?" 

"Well" —  Manton's  eyes  sought  the  floor  for  a 
moment  —"Like  everyone  else  in  pictures,  Stella 
was  the  victim  of  a  great  deal  of  gossip.  That's 

43 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

the  experience  of  any  girl  who  rises  to  a  position  of 
prominence  and — " 

"How  were  the  relations  between  Miss  Lamar 
and  yourself?"  interrupted  Kennedy. 

"What  do  you  mean  by  that?"  Man  ton  flushed 
quickly. 

"You  have  had  no  trouble,  no  disagreements 
recently?" 

"  No,  indeed.  Everything  has  been  very  friendly 
between  us — in  a  strictly  business  way,  of  course — 
and  I  don't  believe  I've  had  an  unpleasant  word 
with  her  since  I  first  formed  Manton  Pictures  to 
make  her  a  star." 

"You  know  nothing  of  her  difficulties  with  her 
husband?" 

"Naturally  not.  I  seldom  saw  her  except  at  the 
studio,  unless  it  was  some  necessary  affair  such  as 
a  screen  ball  here,  or  perhaps  in  Boston  or  Phila- 
delphia or  some  near-by  city  where  I  would  take  her 
for  effect—" 

Kennedy  turned  to  Mackay.  "Will  you  arrange 
to  keep  the  people  I  have  yet  to  question  separate 
from  the  ones  I  have  examined  already?" 

As  the  district  attorney  nodded,  Kennedy  dis- 
missed Manton  rather  shortly;  then  turned  again 
to  Mackay  as  the  promoter  drew  out  of  earshot. 

"Bring  in  Bernie,  the  property-boy,  before  any- 
one can  tell  him  to  hide  or  destroy  that  locket." 

44 


AN  EMOTIONAL  MAZE 

B ERNIE  proved  to  be  as  stupid  a  youth  as  any 
I  had  ever  seen.  He  possessed  frightened 
semiliquid  eyes  and  overshot  ears  and  hair  which 
might  have  been  red  beneath  its  accumulation  of 
dust.  Without  doubt  the  boy  had  been  coached 
by  the  electrician,  because  he  began  to  affirm  his 
innocence  in  similar  fashion  the  moment  he  entered 
the  door. 

"I  don't  know  nothin',  honest  I  don't/'  he 
pleaded.  "I  was  out  in  the  hall,  I  was,  and  I 
didn't  come  in  at  all  until  the  doc.  came." 

"I  suppose  you  were  anxious  to  see  if  the  cable 
was  becoming  hot,"  Kennedy  suggested,  gravely. 

"That's  it,  sir!  We  was  lookin'  at  it  because  it 
was  on  the  varnish  and  the  butler  he  says — 

" Where's  the  locket?"  interrupted  Kennedy. 
"The  one  Miss  Lamar  wore  in  the  scenes." 

"Oh!"  in  disdain,  "that  thing!"  With  some 
effort  Bernie  fished  it  from  the  capacious  depths  of 

45 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

a  pocket,  disentangling  the  sharp  corners  from  the 
torn  and  ragged  lining  of  his  coat. 

I  glanced  at  it  as  Kennedy  turned  it  over  and 
over  in  his  hands,  and  saw  that  it  was  a  palpable 
stage  prop,  with  glass  jewels  of  the  cheapest  sort. 
Concealing  his  disappointment,  Kennedy  dropped 
it  into  his  own  pocket,  confronting  the  frightened 
Bernie  once  more. 

"Do  you  know  anything  about  Miss  Lamar's 
death?" 

"No!    I  don't  know  nothing,  honest!" 

"All  right!"  Kennedy  turned  to  Mackay. 
" Werner,  the  director." 

Of  Stanley  Werner  I  had  heard  a  great  deal, 
through  interviews,  character  studies,  and  other 
press  stuff  in  the  photoplay  journals  and  the 
Sunday  newspaper  film  sections.  Now  I  found 
him  to  be  a  high-strung  individual,  so  extremely 
nervous  that  it  seemed  impossible  for  him  to  remain 
in  one  position  in  his  chair  or  for  him  to  keep  his 
hands  motionless  for  a  single  instant.  Although 
he  was  of  moderate  build,  with  a  fair  suggestion  of 
flesh,  there  were  yet  the  marks  of  the  artist  and  of 
the  creative  temperament  in  the  fine  sloping  con- 
tours of  his  head  and  in  his  remarkably  long  fingers, 
which  tapered  to  nails  manicured  immaculately. 
Kennedy  seemed  to  pay  particular  attention  to  his 
eyes,  which  were  dark,  soft,  and  amazingly  restless. 

46 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"Who  was  in  the  cast,  Mr.  Werner?  What  were 
they  playing  and  just  exactly  what  was  each 
doing  at  the  tune  of  Miss  Lamar's  collapse?" 

"Well" — Werner's  eyes  shifted  to  mine,  then 
to  Mackay's,  and  there  was  a  subtle  lack  of  ease 
in  his  manner  which  I  was  hardly  prepared  to 
classify  as  yet — "Stella  Lamar  was  playing  the 
part  of  Stella  Remsen,  the  heroine,  and — uh,  I  see 
your  associate  has  the  script — " 

He  paused,  glancing  at  me  again.  When  Ken- 
nedy said  nothing,  Werner  went  on,  growing 
more  and  more  nervous.  "Jack  Gordon  plays 
Jack  Daring,  the  hero — the  handsome  young  chap 
who  runs  down  the  steps  and  encounters  the  butler 
and  the  maid  in  the  hall  just  outside  the  library — " 

"Wasn't  it  his  face  in  the  French  windows  of 
the  library  at  the  same  time?"  Kennedy  asked. 
"Wasn't  he  the  murderer  of  the  father,  also?" 

"No!"  Werner  smiled  slightly,  and  there  was 
an  instant's  flash  of  the  man's  personality,  winning 
and,  it  seemed  to  me,  calculated  to  inspire  con- 
fidence. "That  is  the  mystery;  it  is  a  mystery 
plot.  While  the  parts  are  played  by  Jack  in  both 
cases  now,  we  explain  in  a  subtitle  a  little  later 
that  the  criminal  himself,  the  'Black  Terror,'  is  a 
master  of  scientific  impersonation,  and  that  he 
changes  the  faces  of  his  emissaries  by  means  of 
plastic  surgery  and  such  scientific  things,  so  that 

47 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

they  look  like  the  characters  against  whom  he 
wishes  to  throw  suspicion.  So  while  Jack  plays 
the  part  it  is  really  an  accomplice  of  the  'Black 
Terror'  who  kills  old  Remsen." 

Kennedy  turned  to  me.  "A  new  idea  in  the  ap- 
plication of  science  to  crime!"  he  remarked,  dryly. 
"Just  suppose  it  were  practicable!" 

"The  'Black  Terror/"  Werner  continued,  "is 
played  by  Merle  Shirley.  You've  heard  of  him, 
the  greatest  villain  ever  known  to  the  films?  Then 
there's  Marilyn  Loring,  the  vampire,  another  good 
trouper,  too.  She  plays  Zelda,  old  Remsen's  ward, 
and  it's  a  question  whether  Zelda  or  Stella  wilt  be 
the  Remsen  heir.  Marilyn  herself  is  an  awfully  nice 
girl,  but,  oh,  how  the  fans  hate  her!"  The  director 
chuckled.  "No  Millard  story  is  ever  complete 
without  a  vamp  and  Marilyn's  been  eating  them 
up.  She's  been  with  Manton  Pictures  for  nearly 
a  year." 

"You  played  the  millionaire  yourself?" 

"Yes,  I  did  old  Remsen." 

I  realized  suddenly,  for  the  first  tune,  that  Werner 
was  still  hi  the  evening  clothes  he  had  donned  for 
the  part.  On  his  face  were  streaks  in  the  little 
make-up  that  remained  after  his  frequent  mopping 
of  his  features  with  his  handkerchief.  Too,  his 
collar  was  melted.  I  could  imagine  his  discomfort. 

"Did   you   have   any   business    with    Stella?" 

48 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

Kennedy  asked,  using  the  stage  term  for  the  minor 
bits  of  action  in  the  playing  of  a  scene.  "Did  you 
move  at  all  while  she  was  going  through  her  part?" 

"No,  Mr.  Kennedy,  I  was  'dead  man'  in  all  the 
scenes." 

"Show  me  how  you  lay,  if  you  will." 

Obligingly,  Werner  stretched  out  on  the  carpet, 
duplicating  his  positions  even  to  the  exact  manner 
in  which  he  had  placed  his  hands  and  arms.  Rather 
to  my  own  distaste,  Kennedy  impressed  me  to 
represent,  I  am  sure  in  clumsy  fashion,  the  various 
positions  of  Stella  Lamar.  Most  painstakingly 
Kennedy  worked  back  from  the  thirteenth  scene 
to  the  first,  referring  to  the  script  and  coaxing 
details  of  memory  from  the  mind  of  Werner. 

I  grasped  Kennedy's  purpose  almost  at  once. 
He  was  endeavoring  to  reproduce  the  action  which 
had  been  photographed,  so  as  to  determine  just  how 
the  poison  had  been  administered.  Of  course  he 
made  no  reference  to  the  tiny  scratch  and  Mackay 
and  I  were  careful  to  give  no  hint  of  it  to  Werner. 
The  director,  however,  seemed  most  willing  to 
assist  us.  I  certainly  felt  no  suspicion  of  him  now. 
As  for  Kennedy,  his  face  was  unrevealing. 

"When  the  film  hi  the  camera  is  developed — " 
I  suggested  to  Kennedy,  suddenly. 

He  silenced  me  with  a  gesture.  "I  haven't 
overlooked  that,  but  the  scenes  will  be  from  one 

49 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

angle  only  and  in  a  darkened  set.  I  can  determine 
more  this  way." 

Somewhat  crestfallen,  I  continued  my  imper- 
sonation of  the  slain  star  not  altogether  willingly. 
Soon  Kennedy  had  completed  his  reconstruction  of 
the  action. 

"Who  else  entered  the  scene  besides  Gordon?" 
he  asked. 

"The  butler  and  the  maid,  after  the  lights  were 
flashed  on." 

"I'll  question  the  camera  men,"  he  announced. 
"Who  are  they?" 

"Harry  Watkins  is  the  head  photographer," 
Werner  explained.  "He's  a  crackerjack,  too!  One 
of  the  best  lighting  experts  in  the  country.  Al 
Penny's  grinding  the  other  box." 

"Let's  have  Watkins  first."  Kennedy  nodded 
to  Mackay  to  escort  the  director  from  the  room. 

Neither  Watkins  nor  Penny  were  able  to  add 
anything  to  the  facts  which  Kennedy  had  gleaned 
from  Manton  and  Werner.  When  he  had  finished 
his  patient  examination  of  the  junior  camera  man 
he  recalled  Watkins  and  had  both,  under  his  eyes, 
close  and  seal  the  film  cartridges  which  contained 
the  photographic  record  of  the  thirteen  scenes. 
Dismissing  the  men,  he  handed  the  two  black  boxes 
to  Mackay. 

"Can  you  arrange  to  have  these  developed  and 

50 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

printed,  quickly,  but  in  some  way  so  neither  nega- 
tive nor  positive  will  be  out  of  your  sight  at  any 
time?" 

Mackay  nodded.  "I  know  the  owner  of  a 
laboratory  in  Yonkers." 

"Good!    Now  let's  have  the  leading  man." 

Jack  Gordon  immediately  impressed  me  very 
unfavorably.  There  was  something  about  him  for 
which  I  could  find  no  word  but  "sleek."  Learning 
much  from  my  long  association  with  Kennedy  I 
observed  at  once  that  he  had  removed  the  make-up 
from  his  face  and  that  he  had  on  a  clean  white 
collar.  Since  the  linen  worn  before  the  camera  is 
dyed  a  faint  tint  to  prevent  the  halation  caused  by 
pure  white,  it  was  a  sure  sign  to  me  that  he  had 
spruced  up  a  bit.  I  knew  that  he  was  engaged  to 
Stella.  Here  in  this  room  she  lay  dead,  under  the 
most  mysterious  circumstances.  There  was  little 
question,  in  fact,  that  she  had  been  murdered. 
How  could  he,  really  loving  her,  think  of  such  things 
as  the  make-up  left  on  his  face,  or  his  clothes? 

I  had  to  admit  that  he  was  a  handsome  individual. 
Perhaps  slightly  less  than  average  in  height,  and 
very  slender,  he  had  the  close-knit  build  of  an 
athlete.  The  contour  of  his  head  and  the  perfect 
regularity  of  rather  large  features  made  him  an 
ideal  type  for  the  screen  at  any  angle;  hi  close-ups 
and  foregrounds  as  well  as  full  shots.  In  actual 

51 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

life  there  were  little  things  covered  by  make-up  in 
his  work,  such  as  the  cold  gray  tint  of  his  eyes  and 
the  lines  of  dissipation  about  his  mouth. 

Kennedy  questioned  him  first  about  his  move- 
ments in  the  different  scenes,  then  asked  him  if  he 
had  seen  or  noticed  anything  suspicious  during  the 
taking  of  any  of  them  or  in  the  intervals  between. 

"I  had  several  changes,  Mr.  Kennedy,"  he 
replied.  "Part  of  the  time  I  was  Jack  Daring, 
my  regular  role,  but  I  was  also  the  emissary  who 
looked  like  Daring.  I  went  out  each  time  because 
I  make  up  the  emissary  to  look  hard.  Werner 
wanted  to  fool  the  people  a  little  bit,  but  he  didn't 
want  them  to  be  positive  the  emissary  was  Dar- 
ing, as  would  happen  if  both  make-ups  were  the 
same." 

"Did  you  have  any  opportunity  to  talk  to  Miss 
Lamar?" 

"None  at  all.  Werner  was  pushing  us  to  the 
limit." 

"Did  she  seem  her  usual  self  at  the  start  of  the 
scene?  " 

"No,  she  seemed  a  little  out  of  sorts.  But"- 
Gordon  hesitated —  "something  had  been  troubling 
her  all  day.  She  hardly  would  talk  to  me  in  the 
car  on  the  way  out  at  all.  It  didn't  strike  me  that 
she  acted  any  different  when  she  went  in  to  take 
the  scene." 

52 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

"You  were  engaged  to  her?" 
"Yes."    Gordon's  eyes  caught  the  body  on  the 
davenport  before  him.     He  glanced  away  hastily, 
taking  his  lower  lip  between  his  teeth. 
"Had  you  been  having  any  trouble?" 
"No — that  is,  nothing  to  amount  to  anything." 
"But  you  had  a  quarrel  or  a  misunderstanding." 
His  face   flushed  slowly.     "She  was  to  obtain 
her  final  decree  early  next  week.     I  wanted  her  to 
marry  me  then  at  once.     She  refused.    When  I 
reproached  her  for  not  considering  my  wishes  she 
pretended  to  be  cool  and  began  an  elaborate  flirta- 
tion with  Merle  Shirley." 

"You  say  she  only  pretended  to  be  cool?" 
For  a  few  moments  Gordon  hesitated.    Then 
apparently  his  vanity  loosened  his  tongue.     He 
wished  it  to  be  understood  that  he  had  held  the 
love  of  Stella  to  the  last. 

"Last  night,"  he  volunteered,  "we  made  every- 
thing up  and  she  was  as  affectionate  as  she  ever  had 
been.  This  morning  she  was  cool,  but  I  could  tell 
it  was  pretense  and  so  I  let  her  alone." 

"There  has  been  no  real  trouble  between 
you?" 

The  leading  man  met  Kennedy's  gaze  squarely. 
"Not  a  bit!" 

Kennedy  turned  to  Mackay.  "Mr.  Shirley,"  he 
ordered. 

63 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

By  a  miscalculation  on  the  part  of  the  little 
district  attorney  the  heavy  man  entered  the  room 
a  moment  before  Gordon  left.  They  came  face  to 
face  just  within  the  portieres.  There  was  no  mis- 
taking the  hostility,  the  open  hate,  between  the 
two  men.  Both  Kennedy  and  I  caught  the  glances. 

Then  Merle  Shu-ley  approached  the  fireplace, 
taking  the  chair  indicated  by  Kennedy. 

"I  wasn't  hi  any  of  the  opening  scenes,"  he 
explained.  "I  remained  out  in  the  car  until  I  got 
wind  of  the  excitement.  By  that  time  Stella  was 
dead." 

"Do  you  know  anything  of  a  quarrel  between 
Miss  Lamar  and  Gordon?" 

Shirley  rose,  clenching  his  fists.  For  several 
moments  he  stood  gazing  down  at  the  star  with  an 
expression  on  his  face  which  I  could  not  analyze. 
The  pause  gave  me  an  opportunity  to  study  him, 
however,  and  I  noticed  that  while  he  had  heavier 
features  than  Gordon,  and  was  a  larger  man  hi 
every  way,  ideally  endowed  for  heavy  parts,  there 
was  yet  a  certain  boyish  freshness  clinging  to  him 
in  subtle  fashion.  He  wore  his  clothes  in  a  loose 
sort  of  way  which  suggested  the  West  and  the 
open,  in  contrast  to  Gordon's  metropolitan  sophisti- 
cation and  immaculate  tailoring.  He  was  every 
inch  the  man,  and  a  splendid  actor — I  knew.  Yet 

there  was  the  touch  of  youth  about  him.    He 

54 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

seemed  incapable  of  a  crime  such  as  this,  unless  it 
was  in  anger,  or  as  the  result  of  some  deep-running 
hidden  passion. 

Now,  whether  he  was  angry  or  hi  the  clutch  of  a 
broad  disgust,  I  could  not  tell.  Perhaps  it  was 
both.  Very  suddenly  he  wheeled  upon  Kennedy. 
His  voice  became  low  and  vibrant  with  feeling. 
Here  was  none  of  the  steeled  self-control  of  Manton, 
the  deceptive  outer  mask  which  Werner  used  to 
cover  his  thoughts,  the  nonchalant,  cold  frankness  of 
Gordon. 

"Mr.  Kennedy,"  the  actor  exclaimed,  "I've 
been  a  fool,  a  fool!" 

"How  do  you  mean?" 

"I  mean  that  I  allowed  Stella  to  flatter  my 
vanity  and  lead  me  into  a  flirtation  which  meant 
nothing  at  all  to  her.  God!" 

"You  are  responsible  for  the  trouble  between 
Miss  Lamar  and  Gordon,  then?" 

"Never!"  Shirley  indicated  the  body  of  the 
star  with  a  quick,  passionate  sweep  of  his  hand. 
Now  I  could  not  tell  whether  he  was  acting  or  in 
earnest.  ' ' She's  responsible ! "  he  exclaimed.  "She's 
responsible  for  everything!" 

"  Her  death— " 

"No!"  Shirley  sobered  suddenly,  as  if  he  had 
forgotten  the  mystery  altogether.  "I  don't  know 
anything  at  all  about  that,  nor  have  I  any  idea 

65 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

unless — "  But  he  checked  himself  rather  than 
voice  an  empty  suspicion. 

"  Just  what  do  you  mean,  then?"  Kennedy  was 
sharp,  impatient. 

"She  made  a  fool  of  me,  and — and  I  was  engaged 
to  Marilyn  Loring — " 

"Were  engaged?     The  engagement — " 

"Marilyn  broke  it  off  last  night  and  wouldn't 
listen  to  me,  even  though  I  came  to  my  senses  and 
saw  what  a  fool  I  had  been." 

"Was" — Kennedy  framed  his  question  care- 
fully— "was  your  infatuation  for  Miss  Lamar  of 
long  duration?" 

"Just  a  few  weeks.  I — I  took  her  out  to  dinner 
and  to  the  theater  and — and  that  was  all." 

"I  see!"  Kennedy  walked  away,  nodding  to 
Mackay. 

"Will  you  have  Miss  Loring  next?"  asked  the 
district  attorney. 

Kennedy  nodded. 

Marilyn  Loring  was  a  surprise  to  me.  Stella 
Lamar  both  on  the  screen  and  in  real  life  was 
a  beauty.  In  the  films  Marilyn  was  a  beauty 
also,  apparently  of  a  cold,  unfeeling  type,  but  in 
the  flesh  she  was  disclosed  as  a  person  utterly 
different  from  all  my  preconceived  notions.  In  the 
first  place,  she  was  not  particularly  attractive  except 

when  she  smiled.    Her  coloring,  hair  frankly  and 

56 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

naturally  red,  skin  slightly  mottled  and  pale,  pro- 
duced in  photography  the  black  hair  and  marble, 
white  skin  which  distinguished  her.  But  as  I 
studied  her,  as  she  was  now,  before  she  had  put  on 
any  make-up  and  while  she  was  still  dressed  in  a 
simple  summer  gown  of  organdie,  she  looked  as 
though  she  might  have  stepped  into  the  room  from 
the  main  street  of  some  mid- Western  town.  In 
repose  she  was  shy,  diffident  in  appearance.  When 
she  smiled,  naturally,  without  holding  the  hard 
lines  of  her  vampire  roles,  there  was  the  slight  sug- 
gestion of  a  dimple,  and  she  was  essentially  girlish. 
When  a  trace  of  emotion  or  feeling  came  into  her 
face  the  woman  was  evident.  She  might  have  been 
seventeen  or  thirty-seven. 

To  my  surprise,  Kennedy  made  no  effort  to  elicit 
further  information  concerning  the  personal  ani- 
mosities of  these  people.  Perhaps  he  felt  it  too 
much  of  an  emotional  maze  to  be  straightened  out 
in  this  preliminary  investigation.  When  he  found 
Marilyn  had  watched  the  taking  of  the  scenes  he 
compared  her  account  with  those  which  he  had 
already  obtained.  Then  he  dismissed  her. 

In  rapid  succession,  for  he  was  impatient  now  to 
follow  up  other  methods  of  investigation,  he  called 
in  and  examined  the  remaining  possible  witnesses 
of  the  tragedy.  These  were  the  two  extra  players 

— the  butler  and  the  maid,  the  assistant  director, 
5  57 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

Phelps's  house  servants,  and  Emery  Phelps  himself. 
For  some  unknown  reason  he  left  the  owner  of  the 
house  to  the  very  last. 

"Why  did  you  wish  these  scenes  photographed 
out  here?"  he  asked. 

"Because  I  wanted  to  see  my  library  in  pictures." 

"Were  you  watching  the  taking  of  the  scenes?" 

"Yes!" 

"Will  you  describe  just  what  happened?" 

Phelps  flushed.  He  was  irritated  and  in  no  mood 
to  humor  us  any  more  than  necessary.  A  man  of 
perhaps  forty,  with  the  portly  flabbiness  which 
often  accompanies  success  in  the  financial  markets, 
he  was  accustomed  to  obtaining  rather  than  yielding 
obedience.  A  bachelor,  he  had  built  this  house  as 
a  show  place  merely,  according  to  the  gossip  among 
newspaper  men,  seldom  living  in  it. 

"Haven't  about  a  dozen  people  described  it  for 
you  already?"  he  asked,  distinctly  petulant. 

Kennedy  smiled.  "Did  you  notice  anything 
particularly  out  of  the  way,  anything  which  might 
be  a  clue  to  the  manner  in  which  Miss  Lamar  met 
her  death?" 

Phelps's  attitude  became  frankly  malicious.  "If 
I  had,  or  if  any  of  us  had,  we  wouldn't  have 
found  it  necessary  to  send  for  Prof.  Craig  Kennedy, 
or" — turning  to  me — "the  representative  of  the 
New  York  Star." 

58 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

Kennedy,  undisturbed,  walked  to  the  side  of 
Mackay.  "I'll  leave  Mr.  Phelps  and  his  house  in 
your  care,"  he  remarked,  in  a  low  voice. 

Mackay  grinned.  I  saw  that  the  district  at- 
torney had  little  love  for  the  owner  of  this  particular 
estate  in  Tarrytown. 

Kennedy  led  the  way  into  the  living  room.  Im- 
mediately the  various  people  he  had  questioned 
clustered  up  with  varying  degrees  of  anxiety. 
Had  the  mystery  been  solved? 

He  gave  them  no  satisfaction,  but  singled  out 
Man  ton,  who  seemed  eager  to  get  away. 

"Where  is  Millard?  I  would  like  to  talk  to 
him." 

' '  I'll  try  to  get  him  for  you.  Suppose — "  Manton 
looked  at  his  watch.  "I  should  be  in  at  the  studio," 
he  explained.  "Everything  is  at  a  standstill, 
probably,  and — and  so,  suppose  you  and  Mr.  Jame- 
son ride  in  with  me  in  my  car.  Millard  might  be 
there." 

Kennedy  brightened.  "Good!"  Then  he  looked 
back  to  catch  the  eye  of  Mackay.  "Let  everyone 
go  now,"  he  directed.  "Don't  forget  to  send  me 
the  samples  of  the  body  fluids  and" — as  an 
afterthought — "you'd  better  keep  a  watch  on  the 
house." 


VI 

THE   FIRST  CLUE 

M ANTON'S  car  was  a  high-powered,  expensive 
limousine,  fitted  inside  with  every  luxury  of 
which  the  mind  of  even  a  prima  donna  could  con- 
ceive, painted  a  vivid  yellow  that  must  have  made 
it  an  object  of  attention  even  on  its  familiar  routes. 
It  was  quite  characteristic  of  its  owner,  for  Manton, 
as  we  learned,  missed  no  chance  to  advertise  himself. 

In  the  back  with  us  was  Werner,  while  the  rest 
of  the  company  were  left  to  return  to  the  city  in  the 
two  studio  cars  which  had  brought  them  out  in  the 
morning.  The  director,  however,  seemed  buried 
with  his  reflections.  He  took  no  part  in  the  con- 
versation; paid  no  attention  to  us  upon  the  entire 
trip. 

Manton's  mind  seemed  to  dwell  rather  upon  the 
problems  brought  up  by  the  death  of  Stella  than 
upon  the  tragedy  itself.  The  Star's  photoplay 
editor  once  had  remarked  to  me  that  the  pro- 
moter was  90  per  cent  "bull,"  and  10  per  cent 

60 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

efficiency.  I  found  that  it  was  an  unfair  estima- 
tion. With  all  his  self-advertisement  and  almost 
obnoxious  personality,  Manton  was  a  more  than 
capable  executive  in  a  business  where  efficiency 
and  method  are  rare. 

"This  has  been  a  hoodoo  picture  from  the  start," 
he  exclaimed,  suddenly.  "We  have  been  jinxed 
with  a  vengeance.  Some  one  has  held  the  Indian 
sign  on  us  for  sure." 

Kennedy,  I  noticed,  listened,  studying  the  man 
cautiously  from  the  corners  of  his  eyes,  but  making 
no  effort  to  draw  him  out. 

"First  there  were  changes  to  be  made  hi  the 
script,  and  for  those  Millard  took  his  own  sweet 
time.  Then  we  were  handed  a  lot  of  negative 
which  had  been  fogged  in  the  perforator,  a  thing 
that  doesn't  happen  once  in  a  thousand  years. 
But  it  caught  us  just  as  we  sent  the  company  down 
to  Delaware  Water  Gap.  A  whole  ten  days'  work 
went  into  the  developer  at  once.  Neither  of  the 
camera  men  caught  the  fog  in  their  tests  because  it 
came  in  the  middle  of  the  rolls.  Everything  had  to 
be  done  over  again. 

"And  accidents!  We  carefully  registered  the 
principal  accomplice  of  the  'Black  Terror,'  a  little 
hunchback  with  a  face  to  send  chills  down  your 
back.  After  we  had  him  in  about  half  the  scenes 
of  a  sequence  of  action  he  was  taken  sick  and  died 

61 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

of  influenza.  First  we  waited  a  few  days;  then  we 
had  to  take  all  that  stuff  over  again. 

"Our  payroll  on  this  picture  is  staggering. 
Stella's  three  thousand  a  week  is  cheap  for  her,  the 
old  contract,  but  it's  a  lot  of  money  to  throw  away. 
Two  weeks  when  she  was  under  the  weather  cost 
us  six  thousand  dollars  salary  and  there  was  hah"  a 
week  we  couldn't  do  any  work  without  her.  Gor- 
don and  Shirley  and  Marilyn  Loring  draw  down 
seventeen  hundred  a  week  between  them.  The 
director's  salary  is  only  two  hundred  short  of  that. 
All  told  'The  Black  Terror'  is  costing  us  a  hundred 
thousand  dollars  over  our  original  estimate. 

"And  now" — it  seemed  to  me  that  Manton 
literally  groaned — "with  Stella  Lamar  dead — ex- 
cuse me  looking  at  it  this  way,  but,  after  all,  it 
is  business  and  I'm  the  executive  at  the  head  of 
the  company — now  we  must  find  a  new  star,  Lord 
knows  where,  and  we  must  retake  every  scene  in 
which  Stella  appeared.  It — it's  enough  to  bank- 
rupt Manton  Pictures  for  once  and  all." 

"Can't  you  change  the  story  about  some  way,  so 
you  won't  lose  the  value  of  her  work?"  asked 
Kennedy. 

"Impossible!  We've  announced  the  release  and 
we've  got  to  go  ahead.  Fortunately,  some  of  the 
biggest  sets  are  not  taken  yet." 

The  car  pulled  up  with  a  flourish  before  the 

62 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

Manton  studio,  which  was  an  immense  affair  of 
reinforced  concrete  in  the  upper  Bronx.  Then,  in 
response  to  our  horn,  a  great  wide  double  door 
swung  open  admitting  us  through  the  building  to  a 
large  courtyard  around  which  the  various  depart- 
ments were  built. 

Here,  there  was  little  indication  that  the  principal 
star  of  the  company  had  just  met  her  death  under 
mysterious  and  suspicious  circumstances.  Per- 
haps, had  I  been  familiar  with  the  ordinary  bustle^ 
of  the  establishment,  I  might  have  detected  a 
difference.  Indeed,  it  did  strike  me  that  there 
were  little  knots  of  people  here  and  there  discussing 
the  tragedy,  but  everything  was  overshadowed  by 
the  aquatic  scene  being  filmed  hi  the  courtyard  for 
some  other  Manton  picture.  The  cramped  space 
about  the  concrete  tank  was  alive  with  people,  a 
mob  of  extras  and  stage  hands  and  various  em- 
ployees, a  sight  which  held  Kennedy  and  me 
for  some  little  tune.  I  was  glad  when  Manton  led 
the  way  through  a  long  hall  to  the  comparative 
quiet  of  the  office  building.  In  the  reception  room 
there  was  a  decided  hush. 

"Is  Millard  here?"  he  asked  of  the  boy  seated 
at  the  information  desk. 

"No,  sir,"  was  the  respectful  reply.  "He  was 
here  this  morning  and  for  a  while  yesterday." 

"You    see!"      Manton    confronted    Kennedy 

63 


THE  FILM    MYSTERY 

grimly.  "This  is  only  one  of  the  things  with  which 
we  have  to  contend  hi  this  business.  I  give  Mil- 
lard  an  office  but  he's  a  law  unto  himself.  It's  the 
artistic  temperament.  If  I  interfere,  then  he  says 
he  cannot  write  and  he  doesn't  produce  any  manu- 
script. Ordinarily  he  cannot  be  bothered  to  work 
at  the  studio.  But" — philosophically — "I  know 
where  to  get  him  as  a  general  thing.  He  does  most 
of  his  writing  in  his  rooms  downtown;  says  there's 
more  inspiration  in  the  confusion  of  Broadway  than 
hi  the  wilds  of  the  Bronx.  I'll  phone  him." 

We  followed  the  promoter  up  the  stairs  to  the 
second  and  top  floor.  Here  a  corridor  gave  access 
to  the  various  executive  offices.  Its  windows  at 
frequent  intervals  looked  down  upon  the  court- 
yard and  the  present  confusion. 

Werner,  who  had  preceded  us  into  the  building, 
now  came  up.  As  Manton  bustled  into  his  own 
office  to  use  the  telephone  the  director  turned  to 
Kennedy,  indicating  the  next  doorway. 

"This  is  my  place,"  he  explained.  "It  connects 
with  Manton,  on  one  side,  through  his  reception 
room.  You  see,  in  addition  to  directing  Stella 
Lamar  I  have  been  in  general  charge  of  production 
and  most  of  the  casting  is  up  to  me." 

Kennedy  entered  after  Werner,  interested,  and  I 
followed.  The  door  through  to  the  reception  room 
stood  open  and  beyond  was  the  one  to  Manton's 

64 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

quarters.  I  could  see  the  promoter  at  his  desk, 
receiver  at  his  ear,  an  impatient  expression  upon  his 
face.  In  the  reception  room  a  rather  pretty  girl, 
young  and  of  a  shallow-pated  type  I  thought,  was 
busy  at  a  clattering  typewriter.  She  rose  and 
closed  the  door  upon  Manton,  so  as  not  to  disturb 
him. 

"The  next  office  on  this  side  is  Millard's,"  volun- 
teered Werner.  "He's  the  only  scenario  writer 
dignified  with  quarters  in  this  building." 

"Manton  has  other  writers,  hasn't  he?"  Kennedy 
asked. 

"Yes,  the  scenario  department  is  on  the  third 
floor  across  the  court,  above  the  laboratory  and 
cutting  rooms.'* 

"Who  else  is  in  the  building  here?" 

"There  are  six  rooms  on  this  floor,"  Werner 
replied.  "Manton,  the  waiting  room,  myself, 
Millard,  and  the  two  other  directors.  Below  is  the 
general  reception  room,  the  cashier,  the  book- 
keepers and  stenographers." 

As  Manton  probably  was  having  trouble  obtain- 
ing his  connection,  and  as  Kennedy  continued  to 
question  Werner  concerning  the  general  arrange- 
ment of  the  different  floors  in  the  different  buildings 
about  the  quadrangle,  all  uninteresting  to  me,  I 
determined  to  look  about  a  bit  on  my  own  hook. 

I  was  still  anxious  to  be  of  genuine  assistance  to 

65 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

Kennedy,  for  once,  through  my  greater  knowledge 
of  the  film  world. 

Strolling  out  into  the  corridor,  I  went  to  the  door 
of  Millard's  room.  To  my  disappointment,  it  was 
locked.  Continuing  down  the  hall,  I  stole  a  glance 
into  each  of  the  two  directors'  quarters  but  saw 
nothing  to  awaken  my  suspicion  or  justify  my 
intrusion.  Beyond,  I  discovered  a  washroom,  and, 
aware  suddenly  of  the  immense  amount  of  dust  I 
had  acquired  in  the  ride  in  from  Tarrytown,  I 
entered  to  freshen  my  hands  and  face  at  the  least. 
It  was  a  stroke  of  luck,  a  fortunate  impulse. 

The  amount  of  money  to  be  made  in  the  movies 
had  resulted,  in  the  case  of  Manton,  in  luxurious 
equipment  for  all  the  various  departments  of  his 
establishment.  I  had  noticed  the  offices,  furnished 
with  a  richness  worthy  of  a  bank  or  some  great 
downtown  institution.  Now,  in  the  lavatory,  im- 
maculate with  its  white  tile  and  modern  appoint- 
ments, I  saw  a  shelf  literally  stacked,  in  this  day  of 
paper,  with  linen  towels  of  the  finest  quality. 

As  I  drew  the  water,  hot  instantly,  my  eye  caught, 
half  hi  and  half  out  of  the  wire  basket  beneath  the 
stand,  one  of  the  towels  covered  with  peculiar 
yellow  spots.  Immediately  my  suspicions  were 
awakened.  I  picked  it  up  gingerly.  At  close  range 
I  saw  that  the  spots  were  only  chrome  yellow 
make-up,  but  there  were  also  spots  of  a  different 

66 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

nature.  I  did  not  stop  to  think  of  the  unlikeliness 
of  the  discovery  of  a  real  clue  under  these  circum- 
stances, analyzed  afterward  by  Kennedy.  I  folded 
the  towel  hastily  and  hurried  to  rejoin  him,  to 
show  it  to  him. 

I  found  him  with  Werner,  waiting  for  the  results 
of  Manton's  efforts  to  locate  Millard.  Almost  at 
the  moment  I  rejoined  the  two  a  boy  came  to 
summon  Werner  to  one  of  the  sets  out  on  the  stage 
itself.  Kennedy  and  I  were  alone.  I  showed  him 
the  towel. 

At  first  he  laughed.  "You'll  never  make  a  detec- 
tive, Walter,"  he  remarked.  "This  is  only  simple 
coloring  matter — Chinese  yellow,  to  be  exact.  And 
will  you  tell  me,  too" — he  became  ironical — "how 
do  you  expect  to  find  clues  of  this  sort  here  for 
a  murder  committed  in  Tarrytown  when  all  the 
people  present  were  held  out  there  and  examined, 
when  we  are  the  first  to  arrive  back  here? 

' '  Yellow,  you  know,  photographs  white.  Chinese 
yellow  is  used  largely  in  studios  hi  place  of  white 
in  make-up  because  it  does  not  cause  halation, 
which,  to  the  picture  people,  is  the  bane  of  their 
existence.  White  is  too  glaring,  reflects  rays  that 
blur  the  photography  sometimes. 

"If  you  will  notice,  the  next  time  you  see  them 
shooting  a  scene,  you  will  find  the  actors'  faces 

tinged  with  yellow.    Even  tablecloths  and  napkins 

67 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

and  ' white'  dresses  are  frequently  colored  a  pale 
yellow,  although  pale  blue  has  the  actinic  qualities 
of  white  for  this  purpose,  and  is  now  perhaps  more 
frequently  used  than  yellow." 

I  was  properly  chastened.  In  fact,  though  I  did 
not  say  much,  I  almost  determined  to  let  him  con- 
duct his  case  himself. 

Kennedy  saw  my  crestfallen  expression  and 
understood.  He  was  about  to  say  something  en- 
couraging, as  he  handed  back  the  towel,  when  his 
eye  fell  on  the  other  end  of  it,  which,  indeed,  I 
myself  had  noticed. 

He  sobered  instantly  and  studied  the  other  spots. 
Indeed,  I  had  not  examined  them  closely  myself. 
They  were  the  very  faint  stains  of  some  other 
yellow  substance,  a  liquid  which  had  dried  and  did 
not  rub  off  as  the  make-up,  and  there  were  also  some 
small  round  drops  of  dark  red,  almost  hidden  in  the 
fancy  red  scrollwork  of  the  lettering  on  the  towel, 
"Manton  Pictures,  Inc."  The  latter  had  escaped 
me  altogether. 

"Blood!"  Kennedy  exclaimed.  Then,  "Look 
here!"  The  marks  of  the  pale  yellow  liquid  trailed 
into  a  slender  trace  of  blood.  "It  looks  as  if  some 
one  had  cleaned  a  needle  on  it,"  he  muttered,  "and 
in  a  hurry." 

I  remembered  his  previous  remark.  The  murder 
had  been  hi  Tarry  town.  We  had  just  arrived  here. 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

"Would  anyone  have  time  to  do  it?"  I  asked. 

"Whoever  used  the  towel  did  so  in  a  hurry,"  he 
reiterated,  seriously.  "It  may  have  been  some 
one  afraid  to  leave  any  sort  of  clue  out  there  at 
Phelps's  house.  There  were  too  many  watchers 
about.  It  might  have  seemed  better  to  have  run 
the  risk  of  a  search.  With  no  sign  of  a  wound  on 
Miss  Lamar's  person,  it  was  pretty  certain  that 
neither  Mackay  nor  I  would  attempt  to  frisk 
everyone.  It  was  not  as  though  we  were  looking 
for  a  revolver,  if  she  were  shot,  or  a  knife,  if  she  had 
been  stabbed.  And" — he  could  not  resist  another 
dig  at  me — "and  that  we  should  look  in  a  wash- 
room here  for  a  towel  was,  well,  an  idea  that 
wouldn't  occur  to  anyone  but  the  most  amateur 
and  blundering  sort  of  sleuth.  It's  beginner's  luck, 
Walter,  beginner's  luck." 

I  ignored  the  uncomplimentary  part  of  his  re- 
marks. "Who  could  have  been  in  the  washroom 
just  before  me?"  I  asked. 

Suddenly  he  hurried  through  the  waiting  room 
to  the  door  to  Manton's  office,  opening  it  without 
ceremony.  Manton  was  gone.  We  exchanged 
glances. 

I  remembered  that  Werner  had  preceded  us  up- 
stairs. "It  means  Werner  or  Manton  himself,"  I 
whispered,  so  the  girl  just  behind  us  would  not  hear. 

Kennedy  strode  out  to  the  hall,  and  to  a  window 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

overlooking  the  court.  After  a  moment  he  pointed. 
I  recognized  both  the  cars  used  to  transport  the 
company  to  the  home  of  Emery  Phelps.  There 
was  no  sign  that  either  had  just  arrived,  for  even  the 
chauffeurs  were  out  of  sight,  perhaps  melted  into 
the  crowd  about  the  tank  in  the  corner. 

"They  must  have  arrived  immediately  behind 
us,"  Kennedy  remarked.  "We  wasted  several 
valuable  minutes  looking  at  that  water  stuff 
ourselves." 

At  that  moment  Werner's  voice  rose  from  the 
reception  room  below.  It  was  probable  that  he 
would  be  up  to  rejoin  us  again.  I  remembered 
that  he  had  not  been  at  all  at  ease  while  Kennedy 
questioned  him  in  Tarrytown;  that  here  at  the 
studio  he  had  been  palpably  anxious  to  remain  close 
at  our  heels.  I  felt  a  surge  of  suspicion  within  me. 

"Listen,  Craig,"  I  muttered,  in  low  tones. 
"Manton  had  no  opportunity  to  steal  down  the 
hall  after  the  girl  closed  the  door,  and — " 

"Why  not!"  he  interrupted,  contradicting  me. 
"We  had  our  backs  to  the  door  while  we  were 
talking  with  Werner." 

"Well,  anyhow,  it  narrows  down  to  Manton  and 
Werner  because  that  is  the  washroom  for  these 
offices — " 

"  'Sh ! "  Kennedy  stopped  me  as  Werner  mounted 
the  stairs.  He  turned  to  the  director  with  assumed 

70 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

nonchalance.  "How  long  have  the  other  cars 
been  here?"  he  asked.  "I  thought  we  came  pretty 
fast." 

Werner  smiled.  "I  guess  those  boys  had  enough 
of  Tarrytown.  They  rolled  into  the  yard,  both  of 
them,  while  you  and  Mr.  Jameson  and  Manton  were 
stopping  to  watch  the  people  in  the  water." 

"I  see!"  Kennedy  gave  me  a  side  glance. 
"Where  are  the  dressing  rooms?"  he  inquired. 
It  was  a  random  shot. 

Werner  pointed  to  the  end  of  the  hall,  toward  the 
washroom.  "In  the  next  building,  on  this  floor — 
that  is,  the  principals'.  It's  a  rotten  arrangement," 
he  added.  "They  come  through  some  tunes  and 
use  our  lavatory,  because  it's  a  little  more  fancy 
and  because  it  saves  a  trip  down  a  flight  of  stairs. 
Believe  me,  it  gets  old  Manton  on  his  ear." 


VII 

ENID    FATE 

OEHIND  Werner  was  the  assistant  director,  to 
•"-'  whom  I  had  given  little  attention  at  the  time 
of  the  examination  of  the  various  people  in  the 
Phelps  library.  Even  now  he  impressed  me  as 
one  of  those  rare,  unobtrusive  types  of  individuals 
who  seem,  in  spite  of  the  possession  of  genuine 
ability  and  often  a  great  deal  of  efficiency,  to  lack, 
nevertheless,  any  outstanding  personal  characteris- 
tics. As  a  class  they  are  human  machines,  to  be 
neither  liked  nor  disliked,  never  intruding  and  yet 
always  on  hand  when  needed. 

"This  is  Carey  Drexel,  my  assistant,"  Werner 
stated,  forgetting  that  Kennedy  had  questioned  him 
at  Tarry  town,  and  so  knew  him.  "  There  are  a 
few  people  I  simply  must  see  and  I'm  tied  up, 
therefore,  for  perhaps  half  an  hour;  and  Manton's 
downstairs  still  trying  to  locate  Millard  for  you. 
But  Carey's  at  your  disposal,  Mr.  Kennedy,  to  show 

you  the  arrangement  of  the  studio  and  to  co- 

72 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

operate  with  you  in  any  way  if  you  think  there's 
any  possible  chance  of  finding  anything  to  bear 
upon  Stella's  death  here." 

If  Werner  was  the  man  who  had  used  the  towel, 
I  could  see  that  he  was  an  actor  and  a  cool  villain. 
Of  course  no  one  could  know,  yet,  that  we  had  dis- 
covered it,  but  the  very  nonchalance  with  which 
it  had  been  thrown  into  the  basket  was  a  mark  of 
the  nerve  of  the  guilty  man.  It  was  more  than 
carelessness.  Nothing  about  the  crime  had  been 
haphazard. 

Kennedy  thanked  Werner  and  asked  to  be  shown 
the  studio  floor  used  in  the  making  of  "The  Black 
Terror."  Carey  led  the  way,  explaining  that  there 
were  actually  two  studios,  one  at  each  end  of  the 
quadrangle,  connected  on  both  sides  by  the  other 
buildings;  offices  and  dressing  rooms  and  the  cos- 
tume and  property  departments  at  the  side  facing 
the  street;  technical  laboratories  and  all  the  detail 
of  film  manufacture  in  a  four-story  structure  to  the 
rear.  Most  of  Werner's  own  picture  was  being 
made  in  the  so-called  big  studio,  reached  through 
the  dressing  rooms  from  the  end  of  the  corridor 
where  we  stood. 

I  had  been  in  film  plants  before,  but  when  we 
entered  the  huge  glass-roofed  inclosure  beyond  the 
long  hallway  of  dressing  rooms  I  was  impressed  by 

the  fact  that  here  was  a  place  of  genuine  magnitude, 
6  73 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

more  life  and  bustle  than  anything  I  had  ever 
imagined.  The  glass  had,  however,  been  painted 
wer,  because  of  late  years  dark  stages,  with  the 
•even  quality  of  artificial  light,  had  come  into  vogue 
in  the  Manton  studios  in  place  of  stages  lighted  by 
the  uneven  and  undependable  sunlight. 

The  two  big  sets  mentioned  by  Manton,  a  ban- 
quet hall  and  a  ballroom,  were  being  erected  simul- 
taneously. Carpenters  were  at  work  sawing  and 
hammering.  Werner's  technical  director  was  shout- 
ing at  a  group  of  stage  hands  putting  a  massive 
mirror  hi  position  at  the  end  of  the  banquet  hall, 
a  clever  device  to  give  the  room  the  appearance  of 
at  least  double  its  actual  length.  In  one  corner 
several  electricians  and  a  camera  man  were  ex- 
perimenting with  a  strange-looking  bank  of  lights. 
In  the  ballroom  set,  where  the  flats  or  walls  were  all 
in  place,  an  unexcited  paperhanger  was  busy  with 
the  paraphernalia  of  his  craft,  somehow  looking 
out  of  his  element  in  this  reign  of  pandemonium. 

It  seemed  hard  indeed  to  believe  that  any  sort 
of  order  or  system  lay  behind  this  heterogeneous 
activity,  and  the  incident  which  took  Carey  Drexel 
away  from  us  only  added  to  the  wonder  in  my  mind, 
a  wonder  that  anything  tangible  and  definite  could 
be  accomplished. 

"Oh,  Carey!"    Another   assistant   director,  or 

perhaps  he  was  only  a  property  boy,  rushed  up 

74 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

frantically  the  moment  he  saw  Drexel.  "Miss 
Miller's  on  a  rampage  because  the  grand  piano 
you  promised  to  get  for  her  isn't  at  her  apartment 
yet,  and  Bessie  Terry's  in  tears  because  she  left  her 
parrot  here  overnight,  as  you  suggested,  and  some 
one  taught  the  bird  to  swear."  The  intruder,  a 
youth  of  perhaps  eighteen,  was  in  deadly  earnest. 
"For  the  love  of  Mike,  Carey,"  he  went  on,  "tell 
me  how  to  unteach  that  screeching  thing  of  Bessie's, 
or  we  won't  get  a  scene  to-day." 

Carey  Drexel  looked  at  Kennedy  helplessly. 
With  all  these  troubles,  how  could  he  pilot  us  about? 
Later  we  learned  that  this  was  nothing  new,  once 
one  gets  on  the  inside  of  picture  making.  Props., 
or  properties,  particularly  the  living  ones,  cause 
almost  as  much  disturbance  as  the  temperamental 
notions  of  the  actors  and  actresses.  Sometimes  it 
is  a  question  which  may  become  the  most  ridiculous. 

Kennedy  seemed  to  be  satisfied  with  his  prelimi- 
nary visit  to  this  studio  floor. 

"We  can  get  back  to  Manton's  office  alone,"  he 
told  Drexel.  "We  will  just  keep  on  circling  the 
quadrangle." 

Relieved,  the  assistant  director  pointed  to  the 
door  of  the  manufacturing  building,  as  the  four- 
story  structure  in  the  rear  was  called.  Then  he 
bustled  off  with  the  other  youth,  quite  unruffled 
himself. 

75 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

When  we  passed  through  the  heavy  steel  fire 
door  we  found  ourselves  in  another  long  hallway 
of  fire-brick  and  reinforced-concrete  construction. 
Unquestionably  there  was  no  danger  of  a  serious 
conflagration  in  any  part  of  Manton's  plant,  despite 
the  high  inflammability  of  the  film  itself,  of  the 
flimsy  stage  sets,  of  practically  everything  used  in 
picture  manufacture. 

Immediately  we  entered  this  building  I  detected 
a  peculiar  odor,  at  which  I  sniffed  eagerly.  I  was 
reminded  of  the  burnt-almond  odor  of  the  cya- 
nides. Was  this  another  clue? 

I  turned  to  Kennedy  but  he  smiled,  anticipating 
me. 

" Banana  oil,  Walter,"  he  explained,  with  rather 
a  superior  manner.  "I  imagine  it's  used  a  great 
deal  in  this  industry.  Anyway" — a  chuckle — 
"don't  expect  chance  to  deliver  clues  to  you  in 
wholesale  quantities.  You  have  done  very  well  for 
to-day." 

A  sudden  whirring  noise,  from  an  open  door  down 
the  hall,  attracted  us,  and  we  paused.  This,  I 
guessed,  was  a  cutting  room.  There  were  a  number 
of  steel  tables,  with  high  steel  chairs.  At  the  walls 
were  cabinets  of  the  same  material.  Each  table 
had  two  winding  arrangements,  a  handle  at  the 
operator's  right  hand  and  one  at  his  left,  so  that  he 

could  wind  or  unwind  film  from  one  reel  to  another, 

76 


THE   FILM    MYSTERY 

passing  it  forward  or  backward  in  front  of  his 
eyes. 

There  were  girls  at  the  tables  except  nearest  the 
hall.  Here  a  man  stopped  now  and  then  to  glance 
at  the  ribbon  of  film,  or  to  cut  out  a  section,  drop- 
ping the  discarded  piece  into  a  fireproof  can  and 
splicing  the  two  ends  of  the  main  strip  together 
again  with  liquid  film  cement  from  a  small  bottle. 
He  looked  up  as  he  sensed  our  presence. 

"Isn't  it  hell?"  he  remarked,  in  friendly  fashion. 
"I've  got  to  cut  all  of  Stella  Lamar  out  of  'The 
Black  Terror,'  so  they  can  duplicate  her  scenes 
with  another  star,  and  meanwhile  we  had  half  the 
negative  matched  and  marked  for  colors  and  spliced 
in  rolls,  all  ready  for  the  printer." 

Without  waiting  for  an  answer  from  us,  or  expect- 
ing one,  he  gave  one  of  his  reels  a  vicious  spin,  pro- 
ducing the  whirring  noise;  then  grasping  both 
reels  between  his  fingers  and  bringing  them  to  an 
abrupt  stop,  so  that  I  wondered  he  did  not  burn 
himself  from  the  friction,  he  located  the  next  piece 
to  be  eliminated. 

We  followed  the  hall  into  the  smaller  studio  and 
there  found  a  comedy  company  at  work.  Without 
stopping  to  watch  the  players,  ghastly  under  the 
light  from  the  Cooper-Hewitts  and  Kliegel  arcs, 
we  found  a  precarious  way  back  of  the  set  around 

and  under  stage  braces,    to    the   covered   bridge 

77 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

leading  once  more  to  the  corridor  outside  Manton's 
office. 

Now  the  girl  was  absent  from  her  place  in  the 
little  waiting  room.  Manton's  door  stood  open. 
Without  ceremony  Kennedy  led  the  way  in  and 
dropped  down  at  the  side  of  the  promoter's  huge 
mahogany  desk. 

"I'm  tired,  Walter,"  he  said.  "Furthermore,  I 
think  this  picture  world  of  yours  is  a  bedlam.  We 
face  a  hard  task." 

"How  do  you  propose  to  go  about  things?"  I 
asked. 

"I'm  afraid  this  is  a  case  which  will  have  to  be 
approached  entirely  through  psychological  reac- 
tions. You  and  I  will  have  to  become  familiar 
with  the  studio  and  home  life  of  all  the  long  list  of 
possible  suspects.  I  shall  analyze  the  body  fluids 
of  the  deceased  and  learn  the  cause  of  death,  and 
I  will  find  out  what  it  is  on  the  towel,  but" — 
sighing — "there  are  so  many  different  ramifica- 
tions, so  many — " 

Suddenly  his  eye  caught  the  corner  of  a  piece  of 
paper  slid  under  the  glass  of  Manton's  desk.  He 
pulled  it  out;  then  handed  it  to  me. 

MEMORANDUM  FOR  MR.  MANTON 

Have  learned  Enid  Faye  is  out  of  Pentangle  and  can  be 
engaged  for  about  twelve  hundred  if  you  act  quickly.  Why 

78 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

not  cancel  Lamar  contract  after  "Black  Terror,"  if  she  con- 
tinues up-stage? 

WERNER. 

"I  caught  the  name  Lamar,"  Kennedy  explained. 
Then  an  expression  of  gratification  crept  into  his 
face.  "Miss  Lamar  was  'up-stage'?"  he  mused. 
"That's  a  theatrical  word  for  cussedness,  isn't  it?" 

I  paid  little  attention.  The  name  of  Enid  Faye 
had  attracted  my  own  interest.  This  was  the 
little  dare-devil  who  had  breezed  into  the  Pacific 
Coast  film  colony  and  had  swept  everything  before 
her.  Not  only  had  she  displayed  amazing  nerve 
for  her  sex  and  size,  but  she  had  been  pretty  and 
beautifully  formed,  had  been  as  much  at  home  in 
a  ballroom  as  in  an  Annette  Kellermann  bathing 
suit.  In  less  than  six  months  she  had  learned  to 
act  and  had  been  brought  to  the  Eastern  studios 
of  Pentangle.  Now  it  was  possible  that  she  would 
be  captured  by  Manton,  would  be  blazoned  all 
over  the  country  by  that  gentleman,  would  become 
another  star  of  his  making. 

"Let's  go,  Walter!"  Kennedy,  impatient,  rose. 
I  noticed  that  he  folded  the  little  note,  slipping  it 
into  his  pocket. 

Out  in  the  hall  voices  came  to  us  from  Werner's 
office.  After  some  little  hesitation  Kennedy  opened 
the  door  unceremoniously.  At  the  table,  littered 

with  blue  prints  and  drawings  and  colored  plates  of 

79 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

famous  home  interiors,  was  the  director.  With 
him  was  Manton.  Seated  facing  them,  in  rare  good 
humor,  was  a  fascinating  little  lady. 

The  promoter  rose.  "Professor  Kennedy,  I 
want  you  to  meet  Miss  Enid  Faye,  one  of  our  real 
comers.  And  Mr.  Jameson,  Enid,  of  the  New  York 
Star," 

She  acknowledged  the  introduction  to  Kennedy 
gracefully.  Then  she  turned,  rising,  and  rushed  to 
me  most  effusively,  leading  me  to  a  leather-covered 
couch  and  pulling  me  to  a  seat  beside  her. 

"Mr.  Jameson,"  she  purred.  "I  just  love  news- 
paper men;  I  think  they're  perfectly  wonderful 
always.  Tell  me,  do  you  like  little  Enid?" 

I  nodded,  confused  and  unhappy,  and  as  red  as 
a  schoolboy. 

"That's  fine,"  she  went  on,  in  the  best  modulated 
and  most  wonderful  voice  I  thought  I  had  ever 
heard.  "I  like  you  and  I  know  we're  going  to  be 
the  best  of  friends.  Tell  me,  what's  your  first 
name?" 

"Now,  Enid,"  reproved  Manton,  in  fatherly 
tones,  "you'll  have  plenty  of  time  to  vamp  your 
publicity  later.  For  the  present,  please  listen  to 
me.  We're  talking  business." 

"Shoot  every  hair  of  this  old  gray  head!"  she 
directed,  pertly. 

She  did  not  move  away,  however,    I  could  feel 

80 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

the  warmth  of  her,  could  catch  the  delicacy  of  the 
perfume  she  used.  I  noted  the  play  of  her  slender 
fingers,  the  trimness  of  her  ankle,  the  piquancy  of 
a  nose  revealed  to  me  in  profile — and  nothing  else. 

"This  is  your  chance,  Enid,"  Manton  continued, 
earnestly  and  rather  eagerly.  "You  know  the  film 
will  be  the  most  talked  about  one  this  year.  We've 
got  the  Merritt  papers  lined  up  and  that's  the  best 
advertising  in  the  world.  Everyone  will  know  you 
took  Stella's  place,  and — well,  you'll  step  right  in." 

She  studied  the  tips  of  her  boots,  stretching 
boyish  limbs  straight  in  front  of  her,  then  smoothing 
the  soft  folds  of  her  skirt. 

"Talk  money  to  me,  Mr.  Man!"  she  exclaimed. 
"Talk  the  shekels,  the  golden  shekels." 

"We're  broke,"  he  protested.    "A  thousand — " 

She  shook  her  head. 

Werner  broke  in,  suddenly  anxious.  "Don't 
pass  up  the  chance,  Enid,"  he  pleaded.  "What 
can  Pentangle  do  for  you?  And  I've  always  wanted 
to  direct  you  again — ' 

"I'll  make  it  twelve  hundred,"  Manton  inter- 
rupted, "if  you'll  make  the  contract  personally 
with  me.  Then  if  Manton  Pictures — " 

"All  right!"  She  jumped  to  her  feet,  extending 
a  hand  straight  forward  to  each,  the  right  to  Man- 
ton,  the  left  to  Werner.  "You're  on!" 

I  thought  that  I  was  forgotten.    A  wave  of  jeal- 

81 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

ousy  swept  over  me.  After  all,  she  simply  wanted 
me  to  write  her  up.  In  a  daze  I  heard  Manton. 

"You're  a  wise  little  girl,  Enid,"  he  told  her. 
"Play  the  game  right  with  me  and  you'll  climb  high. 
The  sky's  the  limit,  now.  I'll  make  you — make  you 
big!"  ' 

With  a  full,  warm  smile  she  swung  around  to  me 
and  I  knew  I  was  not  being  slighted,  after  all. 

"That's  what  Longfellow  said,  isn't  it,  Mr. 
Jameson?  " 

"What?"  My  heart  began  to  beat  like  a  trip 
hammer. 

"Excelsior!    Excelsior!    It  packs  them  in!" 

She  laughed  so  infectiously  that  we  ail  joined  in. 
Then  Manton  turned  to  Kennedy. 

"I've  located  Millard  for  you.  He's  to  meet  us 
at  my  apartment  at  seven.  It's  six-thirty  now. 
And  you,  Enid" — facing  her — "if  you'll  come,  too, 
there's  another  man  I  want  you  to  meet,  and 
Larry,  of  course,  will  be  there — " 

Enid  studied  Kennedy.  He  was  hesitating  as 
though  not  sure  whether  to  accompany  Manton  or 
not.  I  never  did  learn  what  other  course  of  action 
had  occurred  to  him. 

But  I  did  notice  that  the  little  star,  with  her  pert, 
upturned  face,  seemed  more  anxious  to  have  Ken- 
nedy go  along  than  she  was  to  meet  the  mysterious 
individual  mentioned  without  name  by  Manton. 

82 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

For  an  instant  she  was  on  the  point  of  addressing 
him,  flippantly,  no  doubt.  Then,  I  think  she  was 
rather  awed  at  Craig's  reputation. 

All  at  once  she  shrugged  her  shoulders  and  turned 
to  me,  plucking  my  sleeve,  her  expression  brighten- 
ing irresistibly.  " You'll  come,  too" — dimpling — 
"Jamie!" 


VIII 

LAWRENCE   MILLARD 

TT  struck  me  on  the  trip  to  Manton's  apartment 
*  that  the  film  people  were  wholly  unfeeling,  were 
even  uninterested  in  the  death  of  Stella  Lamar 
except  where  it  interfered  with  their  business 
arrangements.  Werner  excused  himself  and  did 
not  accompany  us,  on  the  score  of  the  complete 
realignment  of  production  necessary  to  place  Enid 
in  Stella's  part.  It  seemed  to  me  that  he  felt  a 
certain  relish  in  the  problem,  that  he  was  almost 
glad  of  the  circumstances  which  brought  Enid  to 
him.  His  last  words  to  Manton  were,  to  be  sure 
to  have  Millard  recast  the  action  of  the  scenes 
wherever  possible,  so  as  to  give  Enid  the  better 
chance  to  display  her  own  personality. 

1  marveled  as  I  realized  that  the  remains  of 
Stella  Lamar  were  scarcely  cold  before  these  people 
were  figuring  on  the  star  to  take  her  place. 

As  Manton  talked,  the  thought  crossed  my  mind 
that  such  a  man  needed  no  publicity  manager.  I 

84 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

dismissed  the  idea  that  he  might  be  capable  even 
of  murder  for  publicity.  But  at  least  it  was  an 
insight  into  some  methods  of  the  game. 

As  our  car  mounted  to  the  Concourse  and 
turned  Manhattanward  I  was  distinctly  unhappy. 
Manton  monopolized  Enid  completely,  insisting 
upon  talking  over  everything  under  the  sun,  from 
the  wardrobe  she  would  need  in  Stella's  part  and 
the  best  sort  of  personal  advertising  campaign  for 
her,  to  the  first  available  evening  when  she  could  go 
to  dinner  with  him. 

She  sat  in  the  rear  seat,  between  Kennedy  and  the 
promoter,  which  did  not  add  to  my  sense  of  com- 
fort. The  only  consoling  feature  from  my  view- 
point was  that  I  was  admirably  placed  to  study  her, 
and  that  Manton  held  her  so  engrossed  that  I  had 
every  opportunity  to  do  so  unnoticed.  Because 
she  had  overwhelmed  me  so  completely  I  did 
nothing  of  the  kind.  I  knew  we  were  riding  with 
the  most  beautiful  woman  hi  New  York,  but  I  did 
not  know  the  color  of  her  hair  or  eyes,  or  even  the 
sort  of  hat  or  dress  she  wore.  In  short  I  was 
movie-struck. 

We  stopped  at  last  at  a  huge,  ornate  apartment 
house  on  Riverside  Drive  and  Manton  led  the  way 
through  the  wide  Renaissance  entrance  and  the 
luxurious  marble  hall  to  the  elevator.  His  quarters, 
on  the  top  floor,  facing  the  river,  were  almost 

85 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

exotic  in  the  lavishness  and  barbaric  splendor  of 
their  furnishings.  My  first  impression  as  we  en- 
tered the  place  was  that  Manton  had  purposely 
planned  the  dim  lights  of  rich  amber  and  the  clinging 
Oriental  fragrance  hovering  about  everything  so  as 
to  produce  an  alluring  and  enticing  atmosphere. 
The  chairs  and  wide  upholstered  window  seats,  the 
soft,  yielding  divans  in  at  least  two  corners,  with 
their  miniature  mountains  of  tiny  pillows,  all  were 
comfortable  with  the  comfort  one  associates  with 
lotus  eating  and  that  homeward  journey  soon  to 
be  forgotten.  There  was  the  smoke  of  incense, 
unmistakably.  On  a  taboret  were  cigarettes  and 
cigars  and  through  heavy  curtains  I  caught  a 
glimpse  of  a  sideboard  and  decanters,  filled  and  set 
out  very  frankly. 

A  Japanese  butler,  whom  Manton  called  Huroki, 
took  our  hats  and  retreated  with  a  certain  emanat- 
ing effluvium  of  subtlety  such  as  I  had  known  only 
once  before,  when  the  Oriental  attendant  left  me 
on  the  occasion  of  my  only  visit  to  an  opium  den  in 
Chinatown. 

A  moment  later  Millard,  who  had  been  waiting, 
rose  to  greet  us. 

I  would  have  guessed  him  to  be  an  author,  I 
believe,  had  I  met  him  at  random  anywhere  in  the 
city.  He  affected  all  the  professional  marks  and 
mannerisms,  and  yet  he  did  so  gracefully.  I 

86 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

noticed,  in  the  little  hall  where  Huroki  placed  our 
headgear,  a  single-jointed  Malacca  stick,  a  dark- 
colored  and  soft-brimmed  felt  hat,  and  a  battered 
brief-case.  That  was  Millard,  unquestionably. 
The  man  himself  was  tall  and  loose-limbed,  heavy 
with  an  appearance  of  slenderness.  His  face  was 
handsome,  rather  intellectual  in  spite  of  rather 
than  because  of  large  horn-rimmed  glasses.  His 
mouth  and  chin  showed  strength  and  determination, 
which  was  a  surprise  to  me.  In  fact,  in  no  way  did 
he  seem  to  reveal  the  artist.  Lawrence  Millard 
was  a  commercial  writer,  a  dreamer  never. 

First  he  greeted  Enid,  taking  both  of  her  hands 
in  his.  In  this  one  brief  moment  all  my  own  little 
romance  went  glimmering,  for  I  could  not  blind 
myself  to  the  softening  of  his  expression,  the  wel- 
coming light  in  hers,  the  long  interval  in  which 
their  fingers  remained  interlaced. 

And  then  another  thought  came  to  me,  hastened, 
fed  and  fattened  upon  my  jealousy.  The  sealed 
testimony  in  the  case  of  Millard  vs.  Millard!  Could 
Enid,  by  any  chance,  be  concerned  in  that? 

The  next  moment  I  dismissed  the  thought,  or  at 
least  I  thought  I  did  so.  I  tried  to  picture  Enid's 
work  on  the  Coast,  to  remember  the  short  time  she 
had  been  in  the  East.  It  was  possible  Millard  had 
known  her  before  she  went  to  Los  Angeles,  but 
unlikely. 

87 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

Millard  next  turned  to  Kennedy. 

"I  just  learned  of  the  tragedy  a  short  while  ago, 
Professor,"  he  exclaimed.  "It  is  terrible,  and  so 
amazingly  sudden,  too!  It — it  has  upset  me  com- 
pletely. Tell  me,  have  you  found  anything?  Have 
you  discovered  any  possible  clue?  Is  there  anything 
at  all  I  can  do  to  help?" 

"I  would  like  to  ask  a  few  questions,"  Kennedy 
explained. 

"By  all  means!" 

He  extended  a  hand  to  me  and  I  found  it  damp 
and  flabby,  as  though  he  were  more  concerned  than 
his  manner  betrayed.  He  faced  Kennedy  again, 
however,  immediately. 

"Stella  and  I  didn't  make  a  go  of  our  married 
life  at  all,"  he  went  on,  frankly  enough.  "I  was 
very  sorry,  too,  because  I  was  genuinely  fond  of 
her." 

"How  recently  have  you  seen  her?" 

"Stella?  Not  for  over  a  month — perhaps  longer 
than  that." 

Manton  took  Enid  by  the  arm.  It  was  evidently 
her  first  visit  to  the  apartment  and  he  was  anxious 
to  show  her  his  various  treasures. 

Millard,  Kennedy,  and  I  found  a  corner  affording 
a  view  out  over  the  Hudson.  After  Kennedy  had 
described,  briefly,  the  circumstances  of  Stella's 
death,  at  Millard's  insistence,  he  produced  the  note 

88 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

he  had  found  in  her  handbag.  The  author  recog- 
nized it  at  once,  without  reading  it. 

"Yes,  I  wrote  that!"  Then  just  a  trace  of  emo- 
tion crept  into  his  voice.  "I  was  too  late,"  he 
murmured. 

"What  was  it  you  wanted  to  say?"  Kennedy 
inquired. 

Millard's  glance  traveled  to  Manton  and  Enid,  a 
troubled  something  hi  his  expression.  I  could  see 
that  the  promoter  was  making  the  most  of  his 
tete-a-tete  with  the  girl,  but  she  seemed  perfectly 
at  ease  and  quite  capable  of  handling  the  man,  and 
I,  certainly,  was  more  disturbed  at  the  interest  of 
Millard. 

"I  thought  there  was  something  about  the  busi- 
ness I  ought  to  tell  Stella,"  he  answered,  finally. 
"Manton  Pictures  is  pretty  shaky." 

"Oh!  Then  Manton  wasn't  talking  for  effect 
when  he  told  Miss  Faye  that  the  company  was 
broke?" 

"No,  indeed!  In  fact,  didn't  Enid  make  her 
agreement  with  Manton  personally?  That's  what 
I  advised  her  to  do." 

Kennedy  nodded.  "But  is  Manton  himself 
financially  sound?" 

Millard  laughed.  "Lloyd  Manton  always  has  a 
dozen  things  up  his  sleeve.  He  may  have  a  million 

or  he  may  owe  a  million."    In  the  author's  voice 
7  89 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

was  no  respect  for  his  employer.  A  touch  of  malice 
crept  into  his  tone.  "Manton  will  make  money 
for  anyone  who  can  make  money  for  him,"  he 
added,  "that  is,  provided  he  has  to  do  it." 

Kennedy  and  I  exchanged  glances.  This  was 
close  to  an  assertion  of  downright  dishonesty.  At 
that  moment  Huroki  stole  in  on  padded  feet,  as 
noiseless  as  a  wraith. 

"Yes,  Huroki? "     His  master  turned,  inquiringly. 

"Mr.  Leigh,"  was  the  butler's  announcement. 

1 '  Show  him  in, ' '  said  Manton ;  then  he  hurried  over 
to  us.  "Courtlandt  Leigh,  the  banker,  you  know." 

I  imagine  I  showed  my  surprise,  for  Kennedy 
smiled  as  he  caught  my  face.  Leigh  was  a  bigger 
man  than  Phelps,  of  the  highest  standing  in  down- 
town financial  circles.  If  Manton  had  interested 
Courtlandt  Leigh  in  moving  pictures  he  was  a 
wizard  indeed. 

It  seemed  to  me  that  the  banker  was  hardly  in 
the  apartment  before  he  saw  Enid,  and  from  that 
moment  the  girl  engrossed  him  to  the  exclusion  of 
everything  else.  For  Enid,  I  will  say  that  she  was 
a  wonder.  She  seemed  to  grasp  the  man's  instant 
infatuation  and  immediately  she  set  about  to  com- 
plete the  conquest,  all  without  permitting  him  so 
much  as  to  touch  her. 

"You'll  excuse  us?"  remarked  Manton,  easily, 
as  he  drew  Phelps  and  Enid  away. 

90 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"See!"  exclaimed  Millard,  in  a  low  voice,  frown- 
ing now  as  he  watched  the  girl.  "Manton's  clever! 
I've  never  known  him  unable  to  raise  money,  and 
that's  why  I  wanted  Enid  to  have  her  contract 
with  him  personally.  If  Manton  Pictures  blows 
up  he'd  put  her  in  some  other  company." 

"He  has  more  than  one?"  This  seemed  to 
puzzle  Kennedy. 

"  He's  been  interested  in  any  number  on  the  side," 
Millard  explained.  "Now  he's  formed  another, 
but  it's  a  secret  so  far.  You've  heard  of  Fortune 
Features,  perhaps?" 

Kennedy  looked  at  me,  but  I  shook  my  head. 

"What  is  'Fortune  Features'?"  Kennedy  asked 
the  question  of  Millard. 

"Just  another  company  hi  which  Manton  has  an 
interest,"  he  replied,  casually.  "That  was  why  I 
said  I  advised  that  Enid  make  her  contract  per- 
sonally with  Manton.  If  Manton  Pictures  goes 
up,  then  he  will  have  to  swing  her  into  Fortune 
Features — the  other  Manton  enterprise,  don't  you 
see?"  He  paused,  then  added:  "By  the  way, 
don't  say  anything  outside  about  that.  It  isn't 
generally  known — and  as  soon  as  anyone  does  hear 
it,  everybody  in  the  film  game  will  hear  it.  You 
don't  know  how  gossip  travels  in  this  business." 

Kennedy  asked  a  few  personal  questions  about 
Stella,  but  Millard's  answers  indicated  that  he  had 

91 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

not  contemplated  or  even  hoped  for  a  reconcilia- 
tion, that  his  interest  in  his  former  wife  had  be- 
come thoroughly  platonic.  Just  now,  however,  he 
seemed  unable  to  keep  Manton  out  of  his  mind. 

"Oh,  Manton's  clever!"  he  said,  confidentially  to 
Kennedy,  as  he  watched  the  promoter  deftly  ma- 
neuvering Leigh  and  Enid  into  a  position  side  by 
side. 

And  indeed,  as  Millard  talked,  I  began  to  get 
some  inkling  of  how  really  clever  was  the  game 
which  Manton  played. 

'Why/'  continued  Millard,  warming  up  to  his 
story — for,  to  him,  above  all,  a  good  story  was 
something  that  had  to  be  told,  whatever  might 
result  from  it — "I  have  known  him  to  pay  a  visit 
some  afternoon  to  Wall  Street — go  down  there  to 
beard  the  old  lions  in  their  den.  He  always  used 
to  show  up  about  the  closing  tune  of  the  market. 

"I've  known  him  to  get  into  the  office  of  some 
one  like  Leigh  or  Phelps.  Then  he'll  begin  to  talk 
about  his  brilliant  prospects  in  the  company  he 
happens  to  be  promoting  at  the  time.  If  you  listen 
to  Manton  you're  lost.  I  know  it — I've  listened," 
he  added,  whimsically. 

"Well,"  he  continued,  "the  banker  will  begin  to 
get  restless  after  a  bit — not  at  Manton,  but  at  not 
getting  away.  'My  car  is  outside/  Manton  will 
say.  'Let  me  drive  you  uptown.'  Of  course, 

92 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

there's  nothing  else  for  the  banker  to  do  but  to 
accept,  and  when  he  gets  into  Manton's  car  he's 
glad  he  did.  I  don't  know  anyone  who  picks  out 
such  luxurious  things  as  he  does.  Why,  that  man 
could  walk  right  out  along  Automobile  Row,  broke, 
and  some  one  would  give  him  a  car." 

"How  does  he  do  it?"  I  put  the  question  to  him. 

"How  does  a  fish  swim?"  said  Millard,  smiling. 
"He's  clever,  I  tell  you.  Once  he  has  the  banker  in 
the  car,  perhaps  they  stop  for  a  few  moments  at  a 
club.  At  any  rate,  Manton  usually  contrives  it  so 
that,  as  they  approach  his  apartment,  he  has  his 
talk  all  worked  up  to  the  point  where  the  banker 
is  genuinely  interested.  You  know  there's  almost 
nothing  people  will  talk  to  you  longer  about  than 
moving  pictures. 

"Well,  on  one  pretext  or  another,  Manton  usu- 
ally persuades  the  banker  to  step  up  here  for  a 
moment.  Poor  simp !  It's  all  over  with  him  then. 
I'll  never  forget  how  impressed  Phelps  was  with 
this  place  the  first  tune.  There,  now,  watch  this 
fellow,  Leigh.  He  thinks  this  looks  like  a  million 
dollars.  We're  all  here,  playing  Manton's  game. 
We're  his  menagerie — he's  Barnum.  I  tell  you, 
Leigh's  lost,  lost!" 

I  did  not  know  quite  what  to  make  of  Millard's 
cynicism.  Was  he  trying  to  be  witty  at  Manton's 
expense?  I  noticed  that  he  did  not  smile  himself. 

93 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

Although  he  was  talking  to  us,  his  attention  was 
not  really  on  us.  He  was  still  watching  Enid. 

"Then,  along  would  happen  Stella,  as  if  by 
chance." 

Millard  paused  bitterly,  as  though  he  did  not 
quite  relish  the  telling  it,  but  felt  that  Kennedy 
would  pry  it  out  of  him  or  some  one  else  finally, 
and  he  might  as  well  have  it  over  with  frankly. 

"Yes,"  he  said,  thoughtfully,  "but  it  all  wasn't 
really  Manton's  fault,  after  all.  Stella  liked  the 
Bohemian  sort  of  life  too  much — and  Manton  does 
the  Bohemian  up  here  wonderfully.  It  was  too 
much  for  Stella.  Then,  when  Phelps  came  along 
and  was  roped  in,  she  fell  for  him.  It  was  good-by, 
poor  Millard!  I  wasn't  rapid  enough  for  that 
crowd." 

I  almost  began  to  sympathize  with  Millard  in  the 
association  into  which,  for  his  living's  sake,  his 
art  had  forced  him.  I  realized,  too,  that  really 
the  banker,  the  wise  one  from  Wall  Street,  was  the 
sucker. 

Indeed,  as  Millard  told  it,  I  could  easily  account 
for  the  temptation  of  Stella.  To  a  degree,  I  sup- 
pose, it  was  really  her  fault,  for  she  ought  to  have 
known  the  game,  shown  more  sense  than  to  be 
taken  hi  by  the  thing.  I  wondered  at  the  con- 
tinued relations  of  Millard  with  Manton,  under  the 
circumstances.  However,  I  reflected,  if  Stella  had 

94 


THE  FILM    MYSTERY 

chosen  to  play  the  little  fool,  why  should  Millard 
have  allowed  that  to  ruin  his  own  chances? 

What  interested  me  now  was  that  Millard  did 
not  seem  to  relish  the  attentions  which  the  banker 
was  paymg  to  Enid.  Was  Manton  framing  up  the 
same  sort  of  game  again  on  Leigh? 

However,  when  Enid  shot  a  quick  glance  at  Mil- 
lard in  an  aside  of  the  conversation,  accompanied 
by  a  merry  wink,  I  saw  that  Millard,  though  still 
doubtful,  was  much  more  at  ease. 

Evidently  there  was  a  tacit  understanding  be- 
tween the  two. 

Kennedy  glanced  over  at  me.  Bit  by  bit  the 
checkered  history  of  Stella  Lamar's  life  was  coming 
to  light. 

I  began  to  see  more  clearly.  Deserting  Millard 
and  fascinated  by  Manton  and  his  game,  she  had 
been  used  to  interest  Phelps  in  the  company.  In 
turn  she  had  been  dazzled  by  the  glitter  of  the 
Phelps  gold.  She  had  not  proved  loyal  even  to 
the  producer  and  promoter. 

Perhaps,  I  reflected,  that  was  why  Millard  was 
so  apparently  complacent.  One  could  not,  under 
the  circumstances,  have  expected  him  to  display 
wild  emotion.  His  attitude  had  been  that  of  one 
who  thought,  "  She  almost  broke  me;  let  her  break 
some  one  else." 

That,  however,  was  not  his  attitude  toward  Enid 

95 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

now.  Indeed,  he  seemed  genuinely  concerned  that 
she  should  not  follow  in  the  same  steps. 

Later,  I  learned  that  was  not  all  of  the  history  of 
Stella.  Fifteen  hundred  dollars  a  week  of  her  own 
money,  besides  lavish  presents,  had  been  too  much 
for  her.  Even  Phelps's  money  had  had  no  over- 
burdening attraction  for  her.  The  world — at  least 
that  part  of  it  which  spends  money  on  Broadway, 
had  been  open  to  her.  Jack  Daring  had  charmed 
her  for  a  while — hence  the  engagement.  Of  Shir- 
ley, I  did  not  even  know.  Perhaps  the  masterful 
crime  roles  he  played  might  have  promised  some 
new  thrill,  with  the  possibility  that  they  expressed 
something  latent  in  his  life.  At  any  rate,  she  had 
dilettanted  about  him,  to  the  amazement  and 
dismay  of  Marilyn.  That  we  knew. 

The  dinner  hour  was  approaching,  and,  in  spite 
of  the  urgent  invitation  of  Manton,  Leigh  was 
forced  to  excuse  himself  to  keep  a  previous  appoint- 
ment. I  felt,  though,  that  he  would  have  broken 
it  if  only  Enid  had  added  her  urging.  But  she  did 
not,  much  to  the  relief  of  Millard.  Manton  took  it 
in  good  part.  Perhaps  he  was  wise  enough  to 
reflect  that  many  other  afternoons  were  in  the  lap 
of  the  future. 

"What  is  Manton  up  to?"  Kennedy  spoke  to 
Millard.  "Is  it  off  with  the  old  and  on  with  the 
new?  Is  Phelps  to  be  cast  aside  like  a  squeezed- 

96 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

out  lemon,  and  Leigh  taken  on  for  a  new  citrus 
fruit?" 

Millard  smiled.  He  said  nothing,  but  the  know- 
ing glance  was  confirmation  enough  that  in  his 
opinion  Kennedy  had  expressed  the  state  of  affairs 
correctly. 

Millard  hastened  to  the  side  of  Enid  at  once  and 
we  learned  then  that  they  had  a  theater  engage- 
ment together  and  that  Millard  had  the  tickets  in 
his  pocket.  Once  more  I  realized  it  was  no  new  or 
recent  acquaintanceship  between  these  two.  Again 
I  wondered  what  woman  had  been  named  hi  Stella 
Lamar's  divorce  suit,  and  again  dismissed  the 
thought  that  it  could  be  Enid. 

Kennedy  took  his  hat  and  handed  me  mine. 
"We  must  eat,  Walter,  as  well  as  the  rest  of  them," 
he  remarked,  when  Manton  led  the  way  to  the  door. 

I  was  loath  to  leave  and  I  suppose  I  showed  it. 
The  truth  was  that  little  Enid  Faye  had  captivated 
me.  It  was  hard  to  tear  myself  away. 

In  the  entrance  I  hesitated,  wondering  whether 
I  should  say  good-by  to  her.  She  seemed  engrossed 
with  Millard. 

A  second  tune  she  took  me  clean  off  my  feet. 
While  I  stood  there,  foolishly,  she  left  Millard  and 
rushed  up,  extending  her  little  hand  and  allowing  it 
to  rest  for  a  moment  clasped  in  mine. 

"We  didn't  have  a  single  opportunity  to  get 
97 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

acquainted,  Mr.  Jameson,"  she  complained,  real 
regret  in  the  soft  cadences  of  her  voice.  "Won't 
you  phone  me  sometime?  My  name's  in  the  book, 
or  I'll  be  at  the  studio — " 

I  was  tongue-tied.  My  glance,  shifting  from 
hers  because  I  was  suddenly  afraid  of  myself, 
encountered  the  gaze  of  Millard  from  behind. 
Now  I  detected  the  unmistakable  fire  of  jealousy  in 
the  eyes  of  the  author.  I  presume  I  was  never 
built  to  be  a  heavy  lover.  Up  and  down  my 
spine  went  a  shiver  of  fear.  I  dropped  Enid's 
hand  and  turned  away  abruptly. 


IX 

WHITE-LIGHT  SHADOWS 

"  T  X  THAT  do  you  think  of  it?  "  I  asked  Kennedy, 

»  »  when  we  were  half  through  our  meal  at  a 
tiny  restaurant  on  upper  Broadway. 

"We're  still  fumbling  in  the  dark,"  he  replied. 

"  There's  the  towel— " 

"Yes,  and  almost  any  one  on  Mackay's  list  of  nine 
suspects  could  have  placed  it  in  that  washroom." 

"Well — "  I  was  determined  to  draw  him  out. 
My  own  impressions,  I  must  confess,  were  gloriously 
muddled.  "Manton  heads  the  list,"  I  suggested. 
"Everyone  says  she  was  mixed  up  with  him." 

"Manton  may  have  philandered  with  her;  un- 
doubtedly he  takes  a  personal  interest  in  all  his 
stars."  Kennedy,  I  saw,  remembered  the  pro- 
moter's close  attentions  to  Enid  Faye.  "Never- 
theless, Walter,  he  is  first  and  foremost  and  all  the 
time  the  man  of  business.  His  heart  is  in  his 
dollars  and  Millard  even  suggests  that  he  is  none 
too  scrupulous." 

99 


"If  he  had  an  affair  with  Stella,"  I  rejoined,  "and 
she  became  up-stage — the  note  you  found  suggested 
trouble,  you  know — then  Manton  hi  a  burst  of 
passion — " 

"No!"  Kennedy  stopped  me.  "Don't  forget 
that  this  was  a  cold-blooded,  calculated  crime.  I'm 
not  eliminating  Manton  yet,  but  until  we  find  some 
tangible  evidence  of  trouble  between  Stella  and 
himself  we  can  hardly  assume  he  would  kill  the 
girl  who's  made  him  perhaps  a  million  dollars. 
Every  motive  in  Manton' s  case  is  a  motive  against 
the  crime." 

"That  eliminates  Phelps,  then,  too.  He  nearly 
owned  the  company." 

"Yes,  unless  something  happened  to  outweigh 
financial  considerations  hi  his  mind  also." 

"But,  good  heavens!  Kennedy,"  I  protested. 
"If  you  go  on  that  way  you'll  not  eliminate 
anyone." 

"I  can't  yet,"  he  explained,  patiently.  "It's 
just  as  I  said.  We're  fishing  in  the  dark,  absolutely. 
So  far  we  haven't  a  single  basic  fact  on  which  to 
build  any  structure  of  hypothesis.  We  must  go  on 
fishing.  I  expect  you  to  dig  up  all  the  facts  about 
these  people;  every  odd  bit  of  gossip  or  rumor  or 
anything  else.  I'll  bring  my  science  to  play,  but 
there's  nothing  I  can  do  except  analyze  Stella's 

stomach  contents  and  the  spots  on  the  towel ;  that 

100 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

is,  until  we've  got  a  much  more  tangible  lead  than 
any  which  have  developed  so  far." 

"Is  there  anything  I  can  do  to-night?" 

"Yes!"  He  looked  at  his  watch.  "There  are 
two  men  who  were  very  close  to  Miss  Lamar. 
Jack  Gordon  was  engaged  to  her,  Merle  Shirley 
seemed  to  have  been  mixed  up  with  her  seriously. 
All  the  picture  people  have  night  haunts.  See 
what  you  can  find  about  these  two  men." 

"But  I  don't  .know  where  to  find  them  offhand, 
and—" 

"Both  belong  to  the  Goats  Club,  probably. 
Try  that  as  a  start." 

I  nodded  and  began  to  hurry  my  dessert.  But  I 
could  not  resist  questioning  him. 

"You  think  they  are  the  most  likely  suspects?" 

"No,  but  they  were  intimately  associated  with 
Miss  Lamar  in  her  daily  life  and  they  are  the  two 
we  have  learned  the  least  about." 

"Oh!"  I  was  disappointed.  Then  I  rallied  to 
the  attack  for  a  final  time.  "Who  is  the  most 
likely  one.  Just  satisfy  my  curiosity,  Craig." 

He  took  a  folded  note  from  his  pocket,  opening  it. 
It  was  the  memorandum  from  Manton's  desk 
which  I  had  mentioned.  In  a  flash  I  understood. 

"Werner!"  I  exclaimed.  "They  said  he  was 
mixed  up  with  her,  too.  He  was  the  first  back  and 
out  of  the  car  and  he  had  time  to  clean  a  needle  on 

101 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

the  towel,  had  a  better  opportunity  than  anyone 
else.  More" — I  began  to  get  excited — "he  was 
lying  on  the  floor  close  to  her  in  the  scene  and  could 
have  jabbed  her  with  a  needle  very  easily,  and — 
and  he  was  extremely  nervous  when  you  questioned 
him,  the  most  nervous  of  all,  and — and,  finally,  he 
had  a  motive,  he  wanted  to  get  Enid  Faye  with 
Manton  Pictures,  as  this  note  shows." 

"Very  good,  Walter."  Kennedy's  eyes  were 
dancing  hi  amusement.  "It  is  true  that  Werner 
had  the  best  motive,  so  far  as  we  know  now,  but  it's 
a  fantastic  one.  Men  don't  commit  cold-blooded 
murder  just  to  create  a  vacancy  for  a  movie  star. 
If  Werner  was  going  to  kill  Miss  Lamar  he  never 
would  have  written  this  note  about  Miss  Faye." 

"Unless  to  divert  suspicion,"  I  suggested. 

He  shook  his  head.  "The  whole  thing's  too 
bizarre." 

"Werner  was  close  to  her  in  the  dark.  All  the 
other  things  point  to  him,  don't  they?" 

"It's  too  bad  everyone  wasn't  searched,  at  that," 
Kennedy  admitted.  "Nevertheless,  at  the  time  I 
realized  that  Werner  had  had  the  best  opportunity 
for  the  actual  performance  of  the  crime  and  I 
watched  him  very  closely  and  made  him  go  through 
every  movement  just  so  I  could  study  him.  I 
believe  he's  innocent — at  least  as  far  as  I've  gone 

in  the  case." 

102 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

I  determined  to  stick  to  my  opinion.  "I  believe 
it's  Werner,"  I  insisted. 

"By  the  time  you've  dug  up  all  the  gossip  about 
Gordon  and  Shirley  you  won't  be  so  sure,  Walter." 

I  was,  however.  Kennedy  was  not  as  familiar 
with  the  picture  world  as  I.  I  had  heard  of  too 
many  actual  happenings  more  strange  and  bizarre 
and  wildly  fantastic  than  anything  conceivable  in 
other  walks  of  life.  People  in  the  film  game,  as 
they  call  it,  live  highly  seasoned  lives  in  which 
everything  is  exaggerated.  The  mere  desire  to 
make  a  place  for  Enid  might  not  have  actuated 
Werner,  granting  he  was  the  guilty  man.  Never- 
theless it  could  easily  have  contributed.  And  it 
struck  me  suddenly,  an  additional  argument,  that 
Werner,  of  all  of  them,  was  the  most  familiar  with 
the  script.  He  had  been  able  to  cast  himself 
for  the  part  of  old  Remsen.  There  was  not  a 
detail  which  he  could  not  have  arranged  very 
skillfully. 

At  the  Goats  Club  I  was  lucky  to  discover  a 
member  whom  I  knew  well  enough  to  take  into  my 
confidence  by  stating  my  errand.  He  was  one  of 
the  Star's  former  special  writers  and  an  older 
classman  of  the  college  which  had  graduated 
Kennedy  and  myself. 

"Merle  Shirley  is  not  a  member  here,"  he  said. 
"As  a  matter  of  fact,  I've  only  just  heard  the  name. 

103 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

But  Jack  Gordon's  a  Goat,  worse  luck.  That  fel- 
low's a  bad  actor — in  real  life — and  a  disgrace 
to  us." 

"Tell  me  all  you  know  about  him?"  I  asked. 

"Well,  to  give  you  an  example,  he  was  in  here 
just  about  a  week  ago.  I  was  sitting  in  the  grill, 
eating  an  after-theater  supper,  when  I  heard  the 
most  terrible  racket.  He  and  Emery  Phelps,  the 
banker,  you  know,  were  having  an  honest-to- 
goodness  fight  right  out  in  the  lobby.  It  took  three 
of  the  men  to  separate  them." 

"What  was  it  all  about." 

"Well,  Gordon  owes  money  right  and  left,  not  a 
few  hundred  or  some  little  personal  debts  like  that, 
but  thousands  and  thousands  of  dollars.  I  got  it 
from  some  of  the  other  men  here  that  he  has  been 
speculating  on  the  curb  downtown,  losing  con- 
sistently. More  than  that,  he's  engaged  to  Stella 
Lamar — you  knew  that? — and  he's  been  blowing 
money  on  her.  Then  they  tell  me  his  professional 
work  is  suffering,  that  his  recent  screen  appearances 
are  terrible;  the  result  of  late  hours  and  worry,  I 
suppose." 

"The  fight  with  Phelps  was  over  money?" 

"Of  course!  I  figure  that  he  kept  drawing 
against  his  salary  at  the  studio  until  the  film  com- 
pany shut  down  on  him.  Then  probably  he  began 
to  borrow  from  Phelps,  who's  Manton's  backer 

104 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

now,  until  the  banker  shut  down  on  him  also.  At 
any  rate,  Phelps  had  begun  to  dun  him  and  it  led 
to  the  fight." 

"That's  all  you  know  about  Gordon?" 

"Lord!    Isn't  it  enough?" 

I  walked  out  of  the  club  and  toward  Broadway, 
reflecting  upon  this  information.  Could  Gordon's 
debts  have  any  bearing  upon  the  case?  All  at  once 
one  possibility  struck  me.  He  had  been  borrowing 
from  Phelps.  Perhaps  he  had  borrowed  from 
Stella  also.  Perhaps  that  was  the  cause  of  their 
quarrel.  Perhaps  she  had  threatened  to  make 
trouble — it  was  a  slender  motive,  but  worth 
bringing  to  the  attention  of  Kennedy. 

My  immediate  problem,  however,  was  to  obtain 
some  information  about  Merle  Shirley.  At  first 
I  thought  I  would  make  the  rounds  of  some  of  the 
better-known  cafes,  but  that  seemed  a  hopeless 
task.  Suddenly  I  remembered  Belle  Balcom,  for- 
merly with  the  Star.  I  recollected  a  previous  case 
of  Kennedy's  where  she  and  I  had  been  great  rivals 
in  the  quest  of  news.  I  recalled  a  trip  we  had  made 
to  Greenwich  Village  together.  Belle  knew  more 
people  about  town  than  any  other  newspaper 
woman.  Now,  for  some  months,  she  had  been 
connected  with  Screenings,  a  leading  cinema  "fan" 
magazine,  and  would  unquestionably  be  posted 

upon  the  photoplayers. 
8  105 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

Luckily,  I  caught  her  at  home. 

"Bless  your  soul,"  she  told  me  over  the  phone, 
in  delight,  "I've  just  been  aching  for  some  one  to 
take  me  out  to-night.  We'll  go  to  the  Midnight 
Fads  and  if  Shirley  isn't  there  the  head  waiter  will 
tell  you  all  I  don't  remember.  It  was  a  glorious 
fight." 

She  wouldn't  say  any  more  over  the  phone,  but 
I  was  hugely  curious.  Had  there  been  another 
encounter  with  fists?  And  who  had  been  involved? 

When  she  met  me  finally,  at  the  Subway  station, 
and  when  we  obtained  an  out-of-the-way  table  at 
the  Fads,  she  explained.  It  seemed  that  Shirley 
had  met  Stella  there  a  number  of  times  and  that 
Gordon,  at  last,  had  got  wind  of  it.  Gordon  first 
had  come  up  himself,  quietly,  pleading  with  Stella. 
She  had  been  in  a  high  humor  and  had  refused  even 
to  listen  to  him.  Then  he  had  become  insulting. 
At  that  Shirley  knocked  him  down. 

The  head  waiter,  a  witness  of  the  affair,  ordered 
Gordon  put  out,  but  did  not  request  Shirley  or 
Stella  to  leave,  because  the  other  man  had  been  the 
aggressor  without  any  question.  After  more  than 
an  hour  Gordon  returned,  quietly  and  unobtru- 
sively, with  another  girl.  From  Belle's  description 
I  knew  it  was  Marilyn  Loring.  Taking  another 
table,  Marilyn  had  stared  at  Shirley  reproachfully 
while  Gordon  had  glared  at  Stella. 

106 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

Shirley  put  up  with  this  for  just  about  so  long. 
As  Belle  described  it,  his  face  gradually  became 
more  and  more  i*ed  and  he  controlled  himself  with 
increasing  difficulty.  Stella,  seeing  the  coming  of 
the  storm,  tried  to  get  him  to  go.  He  refused. 
She  threatened  to  leave  him.  He  paid  no  attention. 
All  at  once  he  boiled  over  and  with  great  strides 
walked  over  to  Gordon  and  mauled  him  all  over 
the  place.  The  leading  man  had  no  chance  what- 
ever in  the  hands  of  the  irate  Westerner.  Several 
waiters,  attempting  to  intervene,  were  flung  aside. 
Only  when  Shirley  began  to  cool  off  were  they  able 
to  eject  the  two  men.  Both  Stella  and  Marilyn 
had  left,  separately,  before  that.  Neither  of  the 
men  or  women  had  been  at  the  Fads  since,  or  at 
least  the  head  waiter,  called  over  by  Belle,  so 
informed  us. 

Unable  to  obtain  any  other  facts  of  interest,  I 
returned  finally  to  the  apartment  shared  by  Ken- 
nedy and  myself.  First  he  listened  to  my  account, 
plainly  interested.  Then,  when  I  had  concluded, 
he  rose  and  faced  me  rather  gravely. 

"It's  getting  more  and  more  complicated,  Wal- 
ter," he  exclaimed.  "After  you  left  I  remembered 
that  there  was  one  point  of  investigation  I  had 
failed  to  cover — Miss  Lamar's  home  here  in  the 
city.  I  got  our  old  friend,  First-Deputy  O'Connor, 

on  the  wire  and  learned  that  at  the  request  of 

107 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

Mackay,  from  Tarrytown,  they  had  sent  a  man  up 
to  the  place  and  that  just  an  hour  or  less  before  I 
called  they  had  located  and  were  holding  her  colored 
maid.  I  hurried  down  to  headquarters  and  ques- 
tioned the  girl." 

"Yes?"    To  me  it  sounded  promising. 

"The  negress  didn't  know  a  thing  so  far  as  the 
crime  is  concerned,"  Kennedy  went  on,  "but  I 
gained  quite  an  insight  into  the  private  Me  of  the 
star." 

"You  mean — " 

"I  mean  I  know  the  men  who  went  to  Miss 
Lamar's  apartment,  although  beyond  the  fact  of 
her  receiving  them  I  can  tell  nothing,  for  she  sent 
the  maid  home  at  night;  there  were  no  maid's 
quarters." 

"Their  visits  may  have  been  perfectly  inno- 
cent?" 

"Of  course!    We  can  only  draw  conclusions." 

"Who  were  the  various  callers?" 

"Jack  Gordon—" 

"Her  fiance"!" 

"Merle  Shirley—" 

"Shirley  admitted  it  when  you  questioned  him." 

"Manton— " 

"Everyone  knows  that!" 

"Werner — "    A  side  glance  at  me. 

I  said  nothing.    My  expression  spoke  for  me, 

108 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

"And  Emery  Phelps!" 

At  that  I  did  show  surprise.  Although  Mackay 
had  hinted  at  something  of  the  kind,  I,  for  one,  had 
not  considered  the  banker  seriously. 

"Good  heavens!  Kennedy,"  I  exploded.  "She 
was  mixed  up  with  just  about  every  man  connected 
with  the  company." 

"Exactly!"  As  usual,  he  seemed  calm  and 
unconcerned. 

I  could  regard  the  case  only  with  increasing 
amazement — the  bitter,  conflicting  emotions  of 
Manton  and  Phelps,  of  Daring,  Shirley,  and 
Millard.  With  them  all  Stella  had  been  the  pretty 
trouble  maker. 

"How  do  you  suppose  they  could  all  remain  in 
the  same  company?  "  I  showed  my  surprise  at  the 
situation. 

Kennedy  pondered  a  moment,  then  replied: 

"A  moment's  reflection  ought  to  give  you  one 
answer.  I  think,  Walter,  they  were  either  under 
contract  or  they  had  their  money  in  the  company. 
They  couldn't  break." 

"I  suppose  so.  What  I  wonder  is,  was  Marilyn 
as  jealous  of  Stella  as  her  screen  character  would 
make  her  in  a  story?  She's  the  only  one  we  don't 
hear  much  about." 

Kennedy  did  not  seem,  at  least  at  present,  to 

give  this  phase  of  it  anything  like  the  weight  he 

100 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

credited  to  the  frenzied  financial  relations  the  case 
was  uncovering. 

It  was  true,  as  I  learned  later,  that  Manton  was 
at  that  very  moment  doing  perhaps  as  much  as  any- 
one else  ever  did  to  discredit  the  picture  game  in 
Wall  Street. 


CHEMICAL   RESEARCH 

THE  following  morning  I  found  Kennedy  up 
ahead  of  me,  and  I  felt  certain  that  he  had 
gone  to  the  laboratory.  Sure  enough,  I  found  him 
at  work  in  the  midst  of  the  innumerable  scientific 
devices  which  he  had  gathered  during  years  of 
crime  detection  of  every  sort. 

As  usual,  he  was  surrounded  by  a  perfect  litter 
of  test  tubes,  beakers,  reagents,  microscopes,  slides, 
and  culture  tubes.  He  had  cut  out  the  curious 
spots  from  the  towel  I  had  discovered  and  was 
studying  them  to  determine  their  nature.  From 
the  mass  of  paraphernalia  I  knew  he  was  neglecting 
no  possibility  which  might  lead  to  the  hidden  truth 
or  produce  a  clue  to  the  crime. 

"Have  you  learned  anything  yet?"  I  asked. 

"Those  brownish  spots  were  blood,  of  course," 
was  his  reply  as  he  stopped  a  moment  in  his  work. 
"In  the  blood  I  discovered  some  other  substance, 

though  I  can't  seem  to  identify  it  yet.     It  will  take 

ill 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

time.  I  thought  it  might  be  a  drug  or  poison,  but 
it  doesn't  seem  to  be — at  least  nothing  one  might 
ordinarily  expect." 

"How  about  the  other  spots,  not  the  Chinese 
yellow?" 

"Another  problem  I  haven't  solved.  I  dissolved 
enough  of  them  so  that  I  have  plenty  of  material 
to  study  if  I  don't  waste  it.  But  so  far  I  haven't 
been  able  to  identify  the  substance  with  anything  I 
know.  There's  a  lot  more  work  of  elimination, 
Walter,  before  we're  on  the  road  to  the  solution  of 
this  case.  Whatever  stained  the  towel  was  very 
unusual.  As  near  as  I  can  make  out  the  spots  are 
of  some  protein  composition.  But  it's  not  exactly 
a  poison,  although  many  proteins  may  be  extremely 
poisonous  and  extremely  difficult  to  identify  be- 
cause they  are  of  organic  nature." 

I  was  disappointed.  It  seemed  to  me  that  he 
had  made  comparatively  little  progress  so  far. 

"There's  one  thing,"  he  added.  "Samples  of 
the  body  fluids  of  the  victim  have  been  sent  down 
by  the  coroner  at  Tarrytown  and  I  have  analyzed 
them.  While  I  haven't  decided  what  it  was 
that  killed  Stella  Lamar,  I  am  at  least  convinced 
that  it  has  something  to  do  with  these  towel  spots. 
They  are  not  exactly  the  same — in  fact,  I  should 
say  they  were  complementary,  or,  perhaps  better, 

antithetical." 

112 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"The  mark  wasn't  made  by  the  needle  which 
scratched  her,  then?" 

"  That's  what  I  thought  at  first,  that  the  point 
used  had  been  wiped  off  on  the  towel.  Then  I 
decided  that  the  spots  had  nothing  to  do  with  the 
case  at  all.  Now  I  believe  there  is  some  connection, 
after  all." 

"I — I  don't  understand  it,"  I  protested. 

"It's  very  baffling,"  he  agreed,  absent-mindedly. 

"If  the  towel  wasn't  used  to  clean  the  fatal 
needle,"  I  went  on,  "then  it  may  have  been  used 
before  they  went  out  instead  of  afterward." 

"Exactly.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  if  I  had  not  been 
so  confused  yesterday  by  all  the  details  of  the  case, 
by  the  many  people  involved,  I  would  have  noticed 
at  a  glance  that  the  blood  spots  on  the  towel  could 
not  come  from  some  one  using  it  to  wipe  the  needle. 
And  any  hypothesis  that  it  had  been  used  out  in 
Tarrytown  was  ridiculous,  because  Miss  Lamar  was 
only  scratched  faintly  and  lost  no  blood.  If  I  had 
been  a  little  more  clever  I  might  have  been  alto- 
gether too  clever.  I  might  possibly  have  thrown 
the  towel  away,  because  there  certainly  was  no 
logical  reason  for  connecting  it  with  the  crime." 

"Just  when  do  you  suppose  Stella  was  pricked?" 
I  asked. 

"That's  a  vital  consideration.  Just  now  I  do 
not  know  the  poison  and  so  cannot  tell  how  quickly 

113 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

it  acted."  He  began  to  put  aside  his  various  para- 
phernalia. "Suppose  we  go  at  this  thing  by  a 
process  of  deduction  rather  than  from  the  end  of 
scientific  analysis."  He  sat  on  a  corner  of  the 
bench.  "What  do  we  find?"  he  began. 

"While  Fve  been  working  here  with  the  test 
tubes  and  the  microscope  I've  been  trying  to  recon- 
struct what  must  have  happened,  trying  to  trace 
out  every  action  of  Stella  Lamar  as  nearly  as  it  is 
possible  for  us  to  do  so.  I  don't  think  we  need  to 
go  back  of  their  arrival  at  the  house,  for  the  present. 
They  seem  to  have  been  there  a  long  while  before 
the  taking  of  the  particular  scene,  since  there  were 
twelve  other  scenes  preceding  and  since  it  requires 
tune  to  put  up  the  electric  lights  and  make  the 
connections,  as  well  as  to  set  the  cameras,  take 
tests,  rearrange  the  furniture,  and  all  the  rest  of  it. 

"They  arrived  at  the  house  in  two  automobiles; 
with  the  exception  of  Phelps,  who  was  there  already, 
and  Manton,  who  came  in  his  own  limousine. 
That  means  that  Miss  Lamar  had  company  on  the 
trip  out,  the  principals  probably  riding  with  each 
other  in  one  car.  At  the  house  they  were  all  more 
or  less  together.  There  were  people  about  con- 
stantly and  it  would  seem  as  if  there  was  small  op- 
portunity for  anyone  to  inflict  the  scratch  which 
caused  her  death.  I  don't  mean  that  it  would 
have  been  impossible  to  prick  her.  I  mean  that 

114 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

she  would  have  felt  the  jab  of  the  point.  In  all 
likelihood  she  would  have  cried  out  and  glanced 
around.  Take  a  needle  yourself,  sometime,  Walter, 
and  try  to  duplicate  the  scratch  on  your  own  arm 
in  such  a  way  that  you  would  not  be  aware  of  it. 

"So  you  see  I'm  counting  upon  some  sort  of  ex- 
clamation from  Miss  Lamar.  If  she  were  inocu- 
lated with  the  poison  with  other  folks  about,  it  is 
sure  some  one  would  have  remembered  a  cry,  a 
questioning  glance,  a  quick  grasp  of  the  forearm — 
for  the  nerves  are  very  sensitive  in  the  skin  there — " 

"No  one  did  recall  anything  of  the  kind,"  I 
interrupted. 

"It  is  from  that  fact  that  I  hope  to  deduce  some- 
thing. Now  let's  follow  her,  figuratively,  to  her 
little  dressing  room.  This  was  a  part  of  the  living 
room  where  the  rest  waited.  It  is  not  a  certainty, 
but  yet  rather  a  sure  guess,  that  if  she  had  received 
a  scratch  behind  those  thin  silk  curtains  her  cry 
would  have  been  heard.  What  is  even  more 
plausible  is  that  she  would  have  hurried  out,  or  at 
least  put  her  head  out,  to  see  who  had  pricked  her. 

"I  made  a  very  careful  examination  of  that  little 
alcove  with  the  idea  that  some  artifice  might  have 
been  used.  It  occurred  to  me  that  a  poisoned  point 
could  have  been  inserted  hi  her  belongings  in  some 
way  so  that  she  would  have  brought  about  her  own 
death,  directly.  To  have  caught  herself  on  a 

115 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

needle  point  in  her  bag,  for  instance,  would  not 
have  impressed  her  to  the  point  of  making  a  dis- 
turbance. She  might  have  checked  her  exclama- 
tion, in  that  case,  because  she  would  be  blaming 
herself. 

"But  I  found  nothing  in  her  things,  nor  did  I 
discover  anything  in  the  library.  It  seems  to  me, 
therefore,  that  we  must  look  for  a  direct  human 
agency." 

A  thought  struck  me  and  I  hastened  to  suggest  it. 
"Could  some  device  have  been  arranged  in  her 
clothes,  Craig;  something  like  the  poison  rings  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  a  tiny  metal  thing  to  spring  open 
and  expose  its  point  when  pressed  against  her  in 
the  action  of  the  scenes?" 

"That  occurred  to  me  at  the  tune.  That's  why  I 
asked  Mackay  to  send  all  her  clothes  down  here, 
every  stitch  and  rag  of  them.  I've  gone  over 
everything  already  this  morning.  Not  only  have  I 
examined  the  various  materials  for  stains,  but  I've 
tested  each  hook  and  eye  and  button  and  pin. 
I've  been  very  careful  to  cover  that  possibility." 

"You  think,  then,  she  was  scratched  deliberately 
by  some  one  during  the  taking  of  the  scenes?" 

"If  you've  followed  my  line  of  reasoning  you  will 
see  that  we  are  driven  to  that  assumption.  Per- 
haps later  I  will  make  tests  on  a  given  number  of 
girls  of  Stella's  general  age  and  type  and  tempera- 

116 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

ment  to  show  that  they  will  cry  out  at  the  unex- 
pected prick  of  a  fine  needle.  It's  illogical  to  expect 
that  a  cry  from  Miss  Lamar,  even  an  exclamation, 
would  have  passed  unnoticed  except  during  the 
excitement  of  actual  picture  taking." 

Another  inspiration  came  to  me,  but  I  was  almost 
afraid  to  voice  it.  It  seemed  a  daring  theory. 
"  Could  death  have  resulted  from  poison  adminis- 
tered in  some  other  fashion,  by  something  she  had 
eaten,  for  instance?"  I  ventured.  "Couldn't  the 
scratch  be  coincidental?" 

Kennedy  shook  his  head.  "There's  the  value  of 
our  chemical  analysis  and  scientific  tests.  Her 
stomach  contents  showed  nothing  except  as  they 
might  have  been  affected  by  her  weakened  condi- 
tion. From  Doctor  Blake's  report — and  he  found 
no  ordinary  symptoms,  remember — and  from  my 
own  observation,  too,  I  can  easily  prove  in  court 
that  she  was  killed  by  the  mark  which  was  so  small 
that  it  escaped  the  physician  altogether." 

I  turned  away.  Once  more  Kennedy's  reasoning 
seemed  to  be  leading  into  a  maze  of  considerations 
beyond  me.  How  could  the  deductive  method  pro- 
duce results  in  a  case  as  mysterious  as  this? 

"Having  determined  that  Miss  Lamar  received 
the  inoculation  during  the  making  of  one  of  the 
scenes,  as  nearly  as  we  can  do  so,"  Kennedy  went 

on,  "suppose  we  take  the  scenes  in  order,  one  at  a 

117 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

time,  from  the  last  photographed  to  the  first, 
analyzing  each  in  turn.  Remember  that  we  seek  a 
situation  where  there  is  not  only  an  opportunity  to 
jab  her  with  a  needle,  but  one  in  which  an  outcry 
would  be  muffled  or  inaudible." 

I  now  saw  that  Kennedy  had  brought  in  the 
bound  script  of  the  story,  "The  Black  Terror," 
and  I  wondered  again,  as  I  had  often  before,  at 
his  marvelous  capacity  for  attention  to  detail. 

"'The  spotlight  on  the  floor  reveals  the  girl 
sobbing  over  the  body  of  the  millionaire,'"  he  read, 
aloud,  musingly.  "H'mm!  'She  screams  and 
cries  out.'  Then  the  others  rush  in." 

For  several  moments  Kennedy  paced  the  floor 
of  the  laboratory,  the  manuscript  open  in  his  hands. 

"We  rehearsed  that,  with  Werner;  and  we 
questioned  everyone,  too.  And  remember!  Miss 
Lamar,  instead  of  crying  out  as  she  was  supposed  to 
do,  just  crumpled  up  silently.  So" — thumbing 
over  a  page — "we  work  back  to  scene  twelve. 
She — she  was  not  in  that  at  all.  Scene  eleven — " 

Slowly,  carefully,  Kennedy  went  through  each 
scene  to  the  beginning.  "Certainly  a  dramatic 
opening  for  a  mystery  picture,"  he  remarked,  sud- 
denly, as  though  his  mind  had  wandered  from  his 
problem  to  other  things.  "We  must  admit  that 
Millard  can  handle  a  moving-picture  scenario  most 
beautifully." 

118 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

Whether  it  was  professional  jealousy  or  the 
thought  of  Enid,  rather  than  the  memory  of  my  own 
poor  attempts  at  screen  writing,  I  certainly  was  hi 
no  mood  to  agree  with  Kennedy,  for  all  that  I  knew 
he  was  correct. 

"Here!"  He  thrust  the  binder  in  my  hands. 
"Read  that  first  scene,"  he  directed.  "Meanwhile 
I  am  going  to  phone  Mackay  to  make  sure  he  has 
had  the  house  guarded  and  to  make  double  sure 
no  one  goes  near  the  library.  We're  going  out  to 
Tarrytown  again,  Walter,  and  in  the  biggest  land 
of  hurry." 

"What's  the  idea,  Craig?"  Kennedy's  occa- 
sional bursts  of  mysteriousness,  characteristic  of 
him  and  often  necessary  when  his  theories  were 
only  half  formed  and  too  chaotic  for  explanations, 
always  piqued  me. 

He  did  not  seem  to  hear.  Already  he  was  at  the 
telephone,  manipulating  the  receiver  hook  im- 
patiently. "What  a  dummy  I  am!"  he  exclaimed, 
with  genuine  feeling.  "What — what  an  awful 
dummy!" 

Knowing  I  would  get  nothing  out  of  him  just 
yet,  I  turned  to  the  scene,  reading  as  he  told  me. 
At  first  I  could  not  see  where  the  detail  concerned 
Stella  Lamar  in  any  way.  Then  I  came  to  the 
description  of  her  introductory  entrance,  the 

initial  view  of  her  hi  the  film.    The  lines  of  type- 
no 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

writing  suddenly  stood  out  before  me  in  all  their 
suggestive  clearness. 

V 

The  spotlight  in  the  hands  of  a  shadowy  figure  roves  across 
the  wall  and  to  the  portieres.  As  it  pauses  there  the  portieres 
move  and  the  fingers  of  a  girl  are  seen  on  the  edge  of  the  silk. 
A  bare  and  beautiful  arm  is  thrust  through  almost  to  the  shoul- 
der and  it  begins  to  move  the  portieres  aside,  reaching  upward 
to  pull  the  curtains  apart  at  the  rings. 

"You  think  there's  something  about  the  por- 
tieres— "  I  began. 

Then  I  saw  that  Kennedy  had  his  connection, 
that  something  disturbed  him,  that  some  intelligence 
from  the  other  end  had  caught  him  by  surprise. 

"You  say  you  were  just  trying  to  get  me, 
Mackay?  You've  something  to  tell  me  and  you 
want  me  to  come  right  out — you  have  summoned 
Phelps  and  he's  on  his  way  from  the  city  also — ?  " 

"What  happened?"  I  asked,  as  Kennedy  hung 
up. 

"I  don't  know,  Walter.  Mackay  said  he  didn't 
want  to  talk  over  the  phone  and  that  we  had 
just  time  to  catch  the  express." 

"But—" 

"Hurry!"  He  glanced  about  as  if  wondering 
whether  any  of  his  scientific  instruments  would 
help  him. 


XI 

FORESTALLED 

ON  the  train  Kennedy  left  me,  to  look  through 
the  other  cars,  having  the  idea  that  Phelps 
might  be  aboard  also.  But  there  were  no  signs  of 
the  banker.  We  would  reach  Tarrytown  first 
unless  he  had  chosen  to  motor  out. 

Mackay  was  waiting  at  the  station  to  meet  us 
and  to  take  us  to  the  house.  The  little  district 
attorney  was  obviously  excited. 

"Was  the  place  guarded  well  last  night?"  asked 
Kennedy,  almost  before  we  had  shaken  hands. 

"Yes — that  is,  I  thought  it  was.  That's  what  I 
want  to  tell  you.  After  you  left  with  Manton  and 
Werner  the  rest  of  the  company  packed  up  and 
pulled  out  in  the  two  studio  cars.  I  was  a  little  in 
doubt  what  to  do  about  Phelps,  but  he  settled  it 
himself  by  announcing  that  he  was  going  to  towTi. 
The  coroner  came  and  issued  the  permit  to  remove 
the  body  and  that  was  taken  away.  I  think  the 

house  and  the  presence  of  the  dead  girl  and  all 
9  121 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

the  rest  of  it  got  on  Phelps's  nerves,  because  he 
was  irritable  and  impatient,  unwilling  to  wait  for 
his  own  car,  until  finally  I  drove  him  to  the  station 
myself." 

"Was  anyone,  any  of  those  on  our  list  of  possible 
suspects  at  least,  alone  in  the  room — or  in  the 
house?" 

"Not  while  I  was  there,"  Mackay  replied.  "I 
took  good  care  of  that.  Then,  when  everyone  was 
gone  and  while  Phelps  was  waiting  for  me,  I  de- 
tailed two  of  my  deputies  to  stay  on  guard — one 
inside  and  one  outside — for  the  night.  I  thought 
it  sufficient  precaution,  since  you  had  made  your 
preliminary  examination." 

"And — "  Kennedy  nodded,  seeking  to  hurry  the 
explanation. 

"And  yet,"  added  Mackay,  "some  one  entered 
the  house  last  night  in  spite  of  us." 

Kennedy  fairly  swore  under  his  breath.  He 
seemed  to  blame  himself  for  some  omission  in  his 
investigation  the  previous  afternoon. 

"How  did  it  happen?"  I  asked,  rather  excitedly. 

"It  was  about  three  o'clock,  the  guards  tell  me. 
The  man  inside  was  dozing  in  a  chair  before  the 
living-room  fireplace.  He  was  placed  so  he  could 
command  a  view  of  the  doorway  to  the  library  as 
well  as  the  stairs  and  reception  hall.  All  at  once 
he  was  awakened  by  a  shot  and  a  cry  from  outside. 

122 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

He  jumped  up  and  ran  toward  the  library.  As  he 
did  so  the  portieres  bellied  in  toward  him,  as  if  in 
stiff  sudden  draught,  or  as  if  some  one  had  darted 
into  their  folds  quickly,  then  out.  With  no  hesita- 
tion he  drew  his  own  weapon,  rushing  the  curtains. 
There  was  no  one  secreted  about  them.  Then, 
with  the  revolver  in  one  hand,  he  switched  on  the 
lights.  The  room  was  empty.  But  one  pair  of 
French  windows  at  the  farther  end  were  wide  open 
and  it  was  that  which  had  caused  the  current  of  air. 
He  ran  over  and  found  the  lock  had  been  forced. 
It  was  not  even  an  artistic  job  of  jimmying." 

"What  about  the  deputy  posted  outside?" 
prompted  Kennedy. 

"That's  the  strange  part  of  it.  He  was  alert 
enough,  but  it's  a  big  house  to  watch.  He  swears 
that  the  first  thing  he  knew  of  any  trouble  was  the 
sharp  metallic  click  which  he  realized  later  was  the 
sound  made  by  the  intruder  in  forcing  the  catch  of 
the  French  window.  It  was  pretty  loud  out  in  the 
quiet  of  a  Tarrytown  night. 

"He  started  around  from  the  rear  and  then  the 
next  thing  he  caught  was  the  outline  of  a  shadowy 
slinking  figure  as  a  man  dropped  out  of  the  library. 
He  called.  The  intruder  broke  into  a  run,  darting 
across  the  open  space  of  lawn  and  crashing  through 
the  shrubbery  without  any  further  effort  at  con- 
cealment. My  man  called  again  and  began  to 

123 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

chase  the  stranger,  finally  firing  and  missing.  In 
the  shrubbery  a  sharp  branch  whipped  him  under 
the  chin  just  as  he  obtained  a  clear  view  of  the  out- 
lined figure  of  his  quarry  and  as  he  raised  his 
weapon  to  shoot  again.  The  revolver  was  knocked 
from  his  hand  and  he  was  thrown  back,  falling  to 
the  ground  and  momentarily  stunned.  Whoever 
broke  into  the  library  got  away,  of  course." 

"What  did  the  intruder  look  like?"  There  was 
an  eagerness  in  Kennedy's  manner.  I  grasped 
that  the  case  was  beginning  to  clarify  itself  in  his 
mind. 

Mackay  shook  his  head.  "There  was  no  moon, 
you  know,  and  everything  happened  swiftly. 

"But  was  he  tall  or  short  or  slender  or  stout — 
the  deputy  must  have  got  some  vague  idea  of  him 
at  least." 

"It  was  one  of  my  amateur  deputies,"  Mackay 
admitted,  reluctantly.  "He  thought  the  man  was 
hatless,  but  couldn't  even  be  sure  of  that." 

"Were  there  footprints,  or  fingerprints — " 

"No,  Mr.  Kennedy,  we're  out  of  luck  again. 
When  he  jumped  out  he  fell  to  his  hands  and 
knees  in  a  garden  bed.  The  foot  marks  were 
ruined  because  his  feet  slid  and  simply  made  two 
irregular  gashes.  The  marks  of  his  hands  indi- 
cated to  me,  anyhow,  that  he  wore  heavy  gloves, 
rubber  probably." 

124 


THE  FILM    MYSTERY 

"Any  disturbance  in  the  library?" 

"Not  that  I  could  notice.  That's  why  I  phoned 
you  at  once.  I'm  hoping  you'll  discover  some- 
thing." 

"Well — "  Kennedy  sighed.  "It  was  a  wonderful 
opportunity  to  get  to  the  bottom  of  this." 

"I  haven't  told  you  all  yet,  Mr.  Kennedy," 
Mackay  went  on.  "There  was  a  second  man, 
and—" 

"A  second  man?"  Kennedy  straightened,  dis- 
tinctly surprised.  "I  would  swear  this  whole  thing 
was  a  one-man  job." 

"They  weren't  together,"  the  district  attorney 
explained.  "That's  why  I  didn't  mention  them 
both  at  once.  But  my  deputy  says  that  when  he 
was  thrown  by  the  lash  of  the  branch  he  was  unable 
to  move  for  a  few  seconds,  on  account  of  the  nerve 
shock  I  suppose,  and  that  while  he  was  motionless, 
squatted  in  a  sort  of  sitting  position  with  hands 
braced  behind  him,  just  as  he  fell,  he  was  aware  of 
a  second  stranger  concealed  in  the  shrubbery. 

"The  second  fellow  was  watching  the  first,  with- 
out the  question  of  a  doubt.  While  the  deputy 
slowly  rose  to  his  feet  this  other  chap  started  to 
follow  the  man  who  had  broken  into  the  house. 
But  at  that  moment  there  was  the  sudden  sound  of 
a  self -starter  in  a  car,  then  the  purr  of  a  motor  and 
the  clatter  of  gears.  Number  one  spun  off  in  the 

125 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

darkness  of  the  road  as  pretty  as  you  please. 
Number  two  grunted,  in  plain  disgust. 

"By  this  time  my  deputy  had  his  wind.  His  re- 
volver was  gone,  but  he  jumped  the  second  stranger 
with  little  enough  hesitation  and  they  battled  roy- 
ally for  several  minutes  in  the  dark.  Unfortunately, 
it  was  an  unequal  match.  The  intruder  apparently 
was  a  stocky  man,  built  with  the  strength  of  a 
battleship.  He  got  away  also,  without  leaving 
anything  behind  him  to  serve  for  identification." 

"You  have  no  more  description  than  of  the 
first  man?" 

"Unfortunately  not.  Medium  height,  a  little 
inclined  to  be  stocky,  strong  as  a  longshoreman — 
that's  all." 

"Are  you  sure  your  deputy  isn't  romancing?" 

"Positively!  He's  the  son  of  one  of  our  best 
families  here,  a  sportsman  and  an  athlete.  I  knew 
he  loved  a  lark,  or  a  chance  for  adventure,  and  so  I 
impressed  him  and  a  companion  as  deputies  when 
I  met  them  on  the  street  on  my  way  up  to  Phelps's 
house  just  after  the  tragedy." 

Kennedy  lapsed  into  thought.  Who  could  the 
self-constituted  watcher  have  been?  Who  was 
interested  in  this  case  other  than  the  proper  author- 
ities? Apparently  some  one  knew  more  than 
Mackay,  more  than  Kennedy.  Whoever  it  was 
had  made  no  effort  to  communicate  with  any  of  us. 

126 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

This  was  a  new  angle  to  the  mystery,  a  mystery 
which  became  deeper  as  we  progressed. 

At  the  house  Kennedy  first  made  a  careful  tour 
of  the  exterior,  but  found  nothing.  Mackay  had 
doubled  his  guards  and  had  sent  Phelps's  servants 
away  so  that  there  could  be  no  interference. 

Once  inside,  I  noticed  that  Kennedy  seemed 
indisposed  to  make  another  minute  search  of  the 
library.  He  went  over  the  frame  of  the  French 
window  with  his  lens  carefully,  for  fingerprints. 
Finding  nothing,  he  went  back  directly  to  the 
portieres. 

For  several  moments  he  stood  regarding  them  in 
thought.  Then  he  began  a  most  painstaking  in- 
spection of  the  cloth  with  the  pocket  glass,  begin- 
ning at  the  library  side. 

I  remembered  that  first  scene  in  the  manuscript 
which  Kennedy  had  insisted  I  read.  I  recalled 
the  suspicion  which  had  flashed  to  me  before  the 
message  from  Mackay  had  disturbed  both  Ken- 
nedy's thoughts  and  mine.  Stella  Lamar  had 
thrust  her  bare  arm  through  this  curtain.  A 
needle,  cleverly  concealed  hi  the  folds,  might 
easily  have  inflicted  the  fatal  scratch.  It  was  for 
a  trace  of  the  poison  point  that  Kennedy  searched. 
Of  that  I  was  sure,  knowing  his  methods. 

I  glanced  up  and  down  the  heavy  hanging  silk, 
looking  for  the  glint  of  fine  sharp  steel  as  Kennedy 

127 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

had  done  before  starting  his  inspection  with  the 
glass.  The  color  of  the  silk,  a  beautiful  heavy 
velour,  was  a  strange  dark  tint  very  close  to  the 
grained  black-brown  of  the  woodwork.  Both  the 
thickness  of  the  material  and  its  dull  shade  made 
the  portieres  serve  ideally  for  the  purpose  assumed 
now  both  by  Kennedy  and  myself.  A  tiny  needle 
might  remain  secreted  within  their  folds  for  days. 
Nothing,  certainly,  caught  my  naked  eye. 

At  last  a  little  exclamation  from  Kennedy  showed 
us  that  he  had  discovered  something.  I  moved 
closer,  as  did  Mackay. 

"It's  lucky  none  of  us  toyed  with  these  curtains 
yesterday,"  he  remarked,  with  a  slight  smile  of 
gratification.  "There  might  have  been  more  than 
one  lying  where  Stella  Lamar  lies  at  the  present 
moment." 

With  wholesome  respect  neither  Mackay  nor 
myself  touched  the  silk  as  Kennedy  pointed. 
There  were  two  small  holes,  almost  microscopic,  in 
the  close-woven  material.  About  the  one  there 
was  the  slightest  discoloration.  Not  a  fraction  of 
an  inch  away  I  saw  two  infinitesimal  spots  of  a 
dark  brownish-red  tinge. 

"What  does  it  mean?"  I  asked,  although  I  could 
guess. 

"The  dark  spots  are  blood,  the  discoloration  the 
poison  from  the  needle." 

128 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

"And  the  needle?" 

He  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "That's  where  our 
very  scientific  culprit  has  forestalled  me,  Walter! 
The  needle  was  in  these  curtains  all  day  yesterday. 
Unfortunately,  I  did  not  study  the  manuscript,  did 
not  attach  any  importance  to  Miss  Lamar's  scene 
at  the  portieres." 

"The  man  who  broke  in  last  night — " 

"Removed  the  needle,  but" — almost  amused — 
"not  the  traces  of  it.  You  see,  Walter,  after  all, 
the  scientific  detective  cannot  be  forestalled  even 
by  the  most  scientific  criminal.  There  is  nothing 
in  the  world  which  does  not  leave  its  unmistakable 
mark  behind,  provided  you  can  read  it.  The  hole 
in  the  cloth  serves  me  quite  as  well  as  the  needle 
itself." 

Very  suddenly  a  voice  from  behind  us  interrupted. 

"Find  something?" 

I  turned,  startled,  to  see  Emery  Phelps.  There 
was  a  distinct  eagerness  in  the  banker's  expression. 

"Yes!"  Kennedy  faced  him,  undisturbed,  ap- 
parently not  surprised.  His  scrutiny  of  Phelps's 
face  was  frank  and  searching.  "Yes,"  he  repeated, 
"bit  by  bit  the  guilty  man  is  revealing  himself 
to  us." 


XII 

EMERY   PHELPS 

"HTHERE — there  is  something  the  matter  with 

•*•    the  curtains?"  Phelps  suggested. 

Kennedy  pointed  to  the  two  holes  and  the  spots. 
"Miss  Lamar  met  her  death  from  poison  introduced 
into  her  system  through  a  tiny  scratch  from  a  pre- 
pared needle." 

"Yes?"  Phelps  was  calm  now,  and  cool.  I 
wondered  if  it  were  pretense  on  his  part.  "What 
have  these  little  marks  to  do  with  that?" 

"Don't  you  see?"  rejoined  Kennedy.  "If  some 
one  had  come  here  before  the  scene  in  the  picture 
was  played;  had  thrust  a  small  needle,  perhaps  a 
hollow  needle  from  a  hypodermic  syringe,  through 
the  heavy  thickness  of  this  slik — thrust  it  in  here, 
the  point  sticking  out  here — well,  there  would  be 
two  holes  left  where  the  threads  were  forced 
apart,  like  this!"  Kennedy  took  his  stickpin, 
demonstrating. 

130 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

"How  could  that  cause  Stella's  death?"  Phelps, 
at  first  quite  upset  apparently  by  Kennedy's  dis- 
covery, now  was  lapsing  again  into  his  hostile  mood. 
His  question  was  cynical. 

"Try  to  recall  Miss  Lamar's  actions,"  Kennedy 
went  on,  patiently.  "What  was  she  supposed  to 
do  in  the  very  first  scene?  'The  portieres  move 
and  the  fingers  of  a  girl  are  seen  on  the  edge  of  the 
silk.  A  bare  and  beautiful  arm  is  thrust  through 
almost  to  the  shoulder  and  it  begins  to  move  the 
portieres  aside,  reaching  upward  to  pull  the  cur- 
tains apart  at  the  rings.' " 

"Do  you  mean  to  tell  me — "  Phelps's  eyes  were 
very  wide  as  he  paused,  grasping  the  scheme  and 
yet  disbelieving — unless  it  all  were  a  bit  of  fine 
acting — "do  you  mean  to  tell  me  it  is  possible  to 
calculate  a  thing  like  that?  How  would  anyone 
know  where  her  arm  would  be?" 

"It  is  simpler  than  it  sounds,  Mr.  Phelps." 
Kennedy  was  suddenly  harsh.  "There  is  only  one 
natural  movement  of  an  arm  in  that  case.  The 
culprit  was  undoubtedly  familiar  with  Miss  La- 
mar's  height  and  with  her  manner  of  working.  It 
is  a  bit  of  action  which  has  to  be  repeated  in  both 
the  long  shot  and  close-up  scenes.  Jameson  here 
can  tell  you  how  many  times  a  scene  is  rehearsed. 
There  probably  were  a  dozen  sure  chances  of  the 
needle  striking  the  girl's  bare  flesh.  You  will  see 

131 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

from  the  position  of  the  holes  that  ii  was  ar- 
ranged point  downward  and  slightly  turned  in, 
and  on  a  particular  fold  of  the  curtain,  too;  show- 
ing that  some  one  placed  it  there  only  after  a 
nice  bit  of  calculation.  Furthermore,  it  was  high 
enough  so  that  there  was  little  chance  of  anyone 
being  pricked  except  the  star,  whose  death  was 
intended." 

Phelps  either  seemed  convinced,  or  else  he  felt 
it  inadvisable  to  irritate  Kennedy  by  a  further 
pretense  of  skepticism. 

A  point  occurred  to  me,  however.  "Listen, 
Craig!"  I  spoke  in  a  low  voice.  "Remember  all 
the  emphasis  you  placed  upon  the  fact  that  she 
would  cry  out.  She  was  not  supposed  to  cry  out 
in  that  first  scene." 

"No,  Walter,  but  if  you'll  read  the  second,  the 
close-up,  you'll  see  that  the  script  actually  calls  for 
a  cry.  Now  suppose  she  makes  an  exclamation  in 
the  first  instead.  Nobody  would  think  anything 
of  it.  They  would  assume  that  she  had  played  her 
action  a  little  in  advance,  perhaps. 

"And  then  consider  this,  too!  Miss  Lamar, 
receiving  the  scratch,  would  cry  out  unquestionably. 
But  she  has  been  before  the  camera  for  years  and 
she  is  trained  in  the  idea  that  film  must  not  be 
wasted  uselessly.  She  would  not  interrupt  her 

action  for  a  little  scratch  because  in  these  cir- 

132 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

cumstances  any  little  startled  movement  would  fit 
in  with  the  action.  By  the  time  the  scene  was  over 
she  would  have  forgotten  the  incident.  It  would 
mean  very  little  to  her  in  the  preoccupation  of 
bringing  the  mythical  Stella  Remsen  into  flesh-and- 
blood  existence.  The  poison,  however,  would  be 
putting  in  its  deadly  work." 

"Wouldn't  it  act  before  the  thirteenth  scene — " 
I  began. 

"Not  necessarily.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  an  actress, 
in  the  excitement  of  her  work,  might  resist  the 
effects  for  a  much  longer  period  than  some  one  who 
realizes  he  is  sick.  Some  day  I'm  going  to  write  a 
book  on  that.  I'm  going  to  collect  hundreds  of 
examples  of  people  who  keep  plugging  along  because 
they  refuse  to  admit  anything's  the  matter  with 
them.  It's  like  Napoleon's  courier  who  didn't 
drop  until  he'd  delivered  his  message  and  made  his 
last  precise  military  salute." 

One  other  thought  struck  me.  "The  blood  spots 
on  the  curtain  cannot  be  Miss  Lamar's  if,  as  you 
say,  the  scratch  brought  no  blood." 

"How  about  the  nocturnal  visitor  who  removed 
the  needle  in  the  dark?  Can't  you  imagine  him 
pricking  himself  beautifully  in  his  hurry." 

"Good  heavens!"  I  felt  the  chills  travel  up  and 
down  my  spine.  "There  may  be  another  fatality, 

then!"  I  exclaimed. 

133 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

Kennedy  was  noncommittal.  "It  would  be  too 
bad  for  justice  to  be  cheated  in  that  fashion,"  he 
remarked. 

Phelps  meanwhile  had  been  listening  to  us  im- 
patiently. Finally  he  turned  to  Mackay. 

"Was  that  all  you  called  me  out  here  for?  Did 
you  just  want  to  show  me  the  pinholes  in  those 
portieres?" 

"Not  exactly,"  Mackay  replied,  eying  him 
sharply.  "Some  one  forced  his  way  into  this 
library  last  night.  My  guard  saw  him,  and  also 
saw  a  second  man  who  remained  out  in  the  shrub- 
bery and  seemed  to  be  watching  the  first.  One 
shot  was  fired,  but  both  men  got  away.  An  auto- 
mobile was  waiting,  perhaps  two  of  them." 

"How  does  this  concern  me?"  Phelps's  voice 
rose  in  anger.  He  strode  into  the  library  and  over 
to  the  French  windows,  inspecting  the  damage  to 
the  fine  woodwork  with  steadily  rising  color.  Then 
he  hurried  back  to  the  side  of  Mackay. 

"It's  up  to  you,  District-Attorney  Mackay,"  he 
said,  with  a  great  show  of  his  ill  feeling.  "You 
practically  forced  me  out  of  my  own  house.  You 
sent  my  servants  away.  You  put  your  own  guards 
in  charge,  young,  inexperienced  deputies  who  don't 
know  enough  to  come  in  when  it's  wet.  Now  you 
have  me  make  this  trip  out  here  in  business  hours 
just  to  show  me  where  a  needle  has  been  stuck  in  a 

134 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

curtain  and  where  a  pair  of  imported  window 
sashes  have  been  ruined." 

Mackay  was  unruffled.  "It  is  necessary,  Mr. 
Phelps,  that  you  look  over  this  room  and  see  that 
nothing  else  has  been  disturbed;  that  there  is  no 
further  damage.  Moreover,  I  thought  you  might  be 
interested,  might  wish  to  help  us  determine  the 
identity  of  the  intruder." 

"If  there's  any  way  I  can  really  help  you  to  do 
that"— sarcastically— "I'll  be  delighted." 

"Were  you  here  the  night  before  the  murder?" 
Mackay  asked. 

"You  know  I  seldom  spend  the  night  in  Tarry- 
town.  I  have  quarters  in  New  York,  at  the  club, 
and  recently  I  have  been  spending  all  my  time  hi 
New  York,  on  account  of  the  situation  in  the  picture 
business." 

"You  were  not  here  the  night  before  the  murder, 
then?" 

"No!" 

"But  you  were  out  here  yesterday  before  the 
actors  arrived,  before  Manton  or  any  of  his  tech- 
nical staff  and  crew  came?" 

"I  was  out  very  early,  to  make  sure  the  servants 
had  the  house  ready."  Phelps  was  red  now. 
"Are  you  insinuating  anything,  Mackay?" 

The  little  district  attorney  was  demonstrating  a 
certain  quality  of  dogged  perseverance.  "Some 

135 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

one  put  the  needle  in  the  curtain  before  the  com- 
pany arrived.  You  probably  were  in  the  house  at 
the  time;  or  at  the  least  your  servants  were. 
Whoever  did  was  the  one  who  murdered  Stella 
Lamar." 

"And  also,"  rejoined  Phelps,  tartly,  "was  the 
intruder  who  broke  in  here  last  night  and  ruined  my 
window  sash.  If  you  had  had  better  guards  you 
might  have  caught  him,  too!" 

"Are  you  sure  of  your  servants?  Are  they 
reliable — " 

"I  never  anticipated  a  murder  and  so  I  didn't 
question  them  as  to  their  poisoning  proclivities 
when  I  engaged  them.  But  you  know  where  they 
are  and  you  can  examine  them.  If  I  were  you, 
Mackay— " 

"Gentlemen!"  Kennedy  hastened  to  stop  the 
colloquy  before  it  became  an  out-and-out  quarrel. 
Then  he  faced  the  banker. 

"Mr.  Phelps,"  Kennedy's  voice  was  soft,  coax- 
ing, "I  don't  think  Mr.  Mackay  quite  under- 
stands. It  would  be  a  great  service  to  me  if  you 
would  give  the  house  a  quick  general  inspection. 
You  are  familiar  with  the  things  here,  enough  to 
state  whether  they  have  been  disturbed  to  any  ap- 
preciable degree.  You  see,  we  do  not  know  the 
interior  arrangements  as  they  were  before  this 

unfortunate  happening." 

136 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

With  rather  ill  grace  Phelps  stalked  up  the  steps, 
acceding  to  Kennedy's  request,  but  disdaining  to 
answer. 

Kennedy  turned  to  Mackay  as  the  banker  disap- 
peared out  of  earshot.  "That's  just  to  cool  him 
off  a  bit.  I  have  everything  I  came  to  get  right 
here."  Producing  a  pah*  of  pocket  scissors,  he  cut 
the  pierced  and  spotted  bit  of  silk  from  the  por- 
tieres, ruthlessly.  It  was  necessary  vandalism. 

"What  was  the  poison,  Mr.  Kennedy?"  Mackay 
asked,  in  a  low  voice. 

"I  think  that  it  was  closely  allied  to  the  cyanide 
groups  in  its  rapacious  activity." 

"But  you  haven't  identified  it  yet?" 

"No.  So  far  I  haven't  the  slightest  idea  of  its 
true  nature.  It  seems  to  have  a  powerful  affinity 
for  important  nerve  centers  of  respiration  and  mus- 
cular co-ordination,  as  well  as  possessing  a  tendency 
to  disorganize  the  blood.  I  should  say  that  it  pro- 
duces death  by  respiratory  paralysis  and  convul- 
sions. To  my  mind  it  is  an  exact,  though  perhaps 
less  active,  counterpart  of  hydrocyanic  acid.  But 
that  is  not  what  it  is  or  I  would  have  been  able  to 
prove  it  before  this." 

Mackay  nodded,  listening  in  silence. 

"You'll  say  nothing  of  this?"  Kennedy  added. 

"I'll  be  silent,  of  course." 

Heavy  footsteps  from  the  rear  marked  the  return 

10  137 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

of  Phelps,  who  had  covered  the  upper  floors,  de- 
scending by  the  back  stairs  so  as  to  have  a  look  at 
the  kitchen. 

"Everything  seems  to  be  all  right,"  he  remarked, 
half  graciously. 

Kennedy  led  the  way  to  the  front  porch.  There 
he  seemed  more  interested  in  the  weather  than  in 
the  case,  for  he  studied  the  sky  intently.  Glanc- 
ing up,  I  saw  that  the  morning  was  still  gray  and 
cloudy,  with  no  promise  that  the  sun  would  be 
able  to  struggle  through  the  overhanging  moisture. 

"I  don't  think  we'll  go  back  to  the  city — that  is, 
all  the  way  in,"  he  remarked,  speaking  for  both  of 
us.  "  I  want  to  go  to  the  Manton  studio  first.  This 
is  no  day  for  exteriors  and  so  they'll  probably  be 
working  there."  He  smiled  at  Phelps.  "I  want 
to  see  if  any  of  our  possible  suspects  look  as  though 
they  had  been  engaging  in  nocturnal  journeys." 

Phelps  had  been  rubbing  his  eyes.  He  dropped 
his  hand  so  quickly  that  I  wanted  to  smile;  then 
to  cover  his  confusion  he  promptly  offered  to  drive 
us  hi.  Mackay  at  the  same  tune  volunteered  his 
car. 

Kennedy  accepted  the  latter  offer.  As  he 
thanked  the  banker  I  wondered  if  any  suspicion  of 
that  individual  lurked  in  the  back  of  his  mind. 
Phelps  certainly  had  made  a  very  bad  impression 
upon  me  with  his  antagonistic  attitude,  with  his 

138 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

readiness  to  transform  every  question  into  a  per- 
sonal affront. 

"Just  one  other  thing,  Mr.  Phelps,"  exclaimed 
Kennedy,  as  we  were  about  to  descend  to  Mackay's 
car.  "Why  did  you  wish  the  scenes  in  'The  Black 
Terror'  actually  taken  in  your  library?" 

Kennedy  had  asked  the  question  before.  Had 
he  forgotten?  I  glanced  at  the  banker  and  read 
the  same  thought  in  his  expression. 

"I — I'm  proud  of  my  library  and  I  wanted  to  see 
it  in  pictures,"  he  replied,  after  some  hesitation 
and  with  a  little  rancor. 

"Not  to  save  money?" 

"It  would  be  no  appreciable  saving." 

"I  see."  Kennedy  was  tantalizingly  deliberate. 
"How  long  have  you  held  the  controlling  interest 
in  Manton  Pictures,  Mr.  Phelps?" 

"Uh" — in  surprise — "nearly  a  year." 

"You  could  have  had  your  library  photographed 
at  any  time,  then,  simply  by  stating  your  request 
as  you  did  in  this  case.  In  that  year  there  have 
been  pictures  which  would  have  served  the  purpose 
as  well  as  this;  better,  in  fact,  because  in  this  pic- 
ture the  library  seems  to  be  dark  almost  altogether. 
In  other  stories  there  probably  were  infinitely  better 
chances  for  the  exhibition  of  the  room.  Why  did 
you  wait  for  'The  Black  Terror'?" 

As  a  clear  understanding  of  Kennedy's  question 

139 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

and  all  it  entailed  filtered  into  the  mind  of  Phelps 
he  became  so  red  and  flushed  with  anger  that  I  felt 
sure  he  was  going  to  explode  on  the  spot. 

"Because  I  didn't  think  of  it  before,"  he  sputtered. 

"You  said  the  situation  hi  the  picture  business 
made  it  necessary  for  you  to  stay  in  town.  Is 
there  any  trouble  between  Manton  and  yourself?" 

"Not  a  bit!" 

"Was  Stella  Lamar  making  any  trouble,  of  a 
business  nature,  such  as  threatening  to  quit 
Manton  Pictures?" 

"No!"     Phelps'  eyes  now  were  narrowed  to  slits. 

"  Are  you  sure?  " 

With  a  great  effort  Phelps  achieved  a  degree  of 
self-control.  He  forced  a  smile.  His  remark,  pre- 
sumed to  be  a  pleasantry,  I  knew  masked  the  true 
state  of  his  feelings. 

"As  sure,  Mr.  Kennedy,"  he  rejoined,  awed  by 
Kennedy's  reputation  even  in  the  full  flood  of  his 
anger,  "as  sure  as  I  am  that  I'd  like  to  throw  you 
down  these  steps!" 


XIII 

MARILYN   LOR1NG 

'"pHE  magic  of  Manton's  name  admitted  us  to 
A  the  studio  courtyard,  and  at  once  I  was  struck 
by  the  change  since  the  day  before.  Now  the  tank 
was  a  dry,  empty,  shallow  depression  of  concrete. 
The  scenery,  all  the  paraphernalia  assembled  for 
the  taking  of  water  stuff,  was  gone.  Except  for 
the  parked  automobiles  in  one  corner  and  a  few 
loitering  figures  here  and  there  the  big  quadrangle 
seemed  absolutely  deserted. 

In  the  general  reception  room  Kennedy  asked  for 
Millard,  but  was  told  he  had  not  been  out  since  the 
previous  day.  That  was  to  be  expected.  But 
Manton,  it  developed,  was  away  also.  He  had 
telephoned  hi  that  he  would  be  detained  until  late 
afternoon  on  important  business.  I  know  that  I, 
for  one,  wondered  if  it  were  connected  with  Fortune 
Features. 

"It's  just  as  well,"  Kennedy  remarked,  after  con- 
vincing the  boy  at  the  desk  it  was  Manton's  wish 

141 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

that  we  have  the  run  of  the  place.  "My  real  ob- 
ject in  coming  was  to  watch  the  cast  at  work." 

We  found  our  way  to  the  small  studio,  called  so 
in  comparison  with  the  larger  one  where  the  huge 
ballroom  and  banquet  sets  were  being  built.  In 
reality  it  possessed  a  tremendous  floor  space.  Now 
all  the  other  companies  had  been  forced  to  make 
room  for  "The  Black  Terror"  on  account  of  the 
emergency  created  by  the  death  of  Stella  Lamar, 
and  there  were  any  number  of  sets  put  up  hastily 
for  the  retakes  of  the  scenes  in  which  Stella  had 
appeared.  The  effect  of  the  whole  upon  a  strange 
beholder  was  weird.  It  was  as  though  a  cyclone 
had  swept  through  a  town  and  had  gathered  up  and 
deposited  slices  and  corners  and  sections  of  rooms 
and  hallways  and  upper  chambers,  each  complete 
with  furniture  and  ornaments,  curtains,  rugs,  and 
hangings.  Except  for  the  artistic  harmony  of 
things  within  the  narrow  lines  of  the  camera's  view, 
nothing  in  this  great  armory-like  place  had  any 
apparent  relation  to  anything  else.  Some  of  the 
sets  were  lighted,  with  actors  and  technical  crews 
at  work.  Others  were  dark,  standing  ready  for  use. 
Still  others  were  in  varying  states  of  construction  or 
demolition.  Rising  above  every  other  impression 
was  the  noise.  It  was  pandemonium. 

We  saw  Werner  at  work  in  a  distant  corner  and 
strolled  over.  The  director  was  bustling  about 

142 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

feverishly.  I  do  not  doubt  that  the  grim  neces- 
sity of  preparing  the  picture  for  a  release  date  which 
was  already  announced  had  resulted  in  this  haste, 
without  even  a  day  of  idleness  in  respect  for  the 
memory  of  the  dead  star,  yet  it  seemed  cold- 
blooded and  mercenary  to  me.  I  thought  that 
success  was  not  deserved  by  an  enterprise  so  callous 
of  human  life,  so  unappreciative  of  human  effort. 

Most  of  the  cast  were  standing  about,  waiting. 
The  scenes  were  being  taken  in  a  small  room,  fitted 
as  an  office  or  private  den,  but  furnished  luxuri- 
ously. Later  I  learned  it  was  in  the  home  of  the 
millionaire,  Remsen,  close  off  the  library  for  which 
the  actual  room  in  Phelps's  home  was  photographed. 

Shirley  and  Gordon,  I  noticed,  kept  as  far  apart 
as  possible.  It  was  quite  intentional  and  I  again 
caught  belligerent  glances  between  them.  On  the 
other  hand,  both  Enid  and  Marilyn  Loring  were 
calm  and  self-possessed.  Yet  between  these  two  I 
caught  a  coolness,  a  sort  of  armed  truce,  in  which 
each  felt  it  would  be  a  sign  of  weakness  to  admit 
consciously  even  the  near  presence  of  the  other. 

Werner  was  irascible,  swearing  roundly  at  the 
slightest  provocation,  raging  up  and  down  at  every 
little  error. 

"Come  now,"  he  shouted,  as  we  approached, 
"let's  get  this  scene  now — number  one  twenty-six. 

Loring — Gordon!     Shake  a  leg — here,  I'll  read  it 

143 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

again.  'Daring  enters.  He  is  scarcely  seated  at 
the  desk,  examining  papers,  when  Zelda  enters  in 
a  filmy  neglige*e.  Daring  looks  up  amazed  and 
Zelda  pretends  great  agitation.  Daring  is  not 
unkind  to  her.  He  tells  her  he  has  not  discovered 
the  will  as  yet.  Spoken  title:  "I  am  sure  that  I 
can  find  a  will  and  that  you  are  provided  for." 
Continuing  scene,  Daring  speaks  the  above.  Zelda 
thanks  him  and  undulates  toward  the  door  with 
the  well-known  swaying  walk  of  the  vampire. 
Daring  turns  to  his  papers  and  does  not  watch  her 
further.  She  looks  over  her  shoulder,  then  exits, 
registering  that  she  will  get  him  yet.":  Werner 
dropped  his  copy  of  the  script.  "Understand?"  he 
barked.  "Make  it  fast  now.  We  shouldn't  do 
this  over,  but  you  were  lousy  before,  both  of  you!" 
Gordon  extinguished  a  cigarette  and  entered  the 
set  with  a  scowl.  Marilyn  rose  and  slipped  out  of 
a  dressing  gown  spotted  with  make-up  and  dark 
from  its  long  service  in  the  studios.  Underneath 
the  wrapper  the  finest  of  silken  draperies  clung  to 
her,  infinitely  more  intimate  here  in  actuality  and  in 
the  bright  studio  lights  than  it  would  be  upon  the 
screen.  I  noticed  the  slim  trimness  of  her  figure — 
could  not  help  myself,  in  fact.  And  I  saw  also 
that  she  shrank  back  just  the  least  little  bit  before 
stepping  to  her  place  at  the  door.  It  was  modesty, 
a  genuine  girlish  diffidence.  In  a  moment  I  revised 

144 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

my  conception  of  her.  Before,  I  had  not  been 
able  to  decide  whether  Marilyn  Loring  was  a  woman 
with  a  gift  for  looking  young,  or  a  flapper  with 
the  baffling  sophistication  affected  these  days  by 
so  many  of  them.  Now  I  knew  somehow  that 
she  was  just  all  girl,  probably  in  her  early  twen- 
ties. The  brief  instant  of  shyness  had  betrayed 
her. 

In  the  scene  she  changed.  Marilyn  Loring  was 
an  actress.  The  moment  she  caught  the  click  of  the 
camera's  turn  there  was  a  hardness  about  her 
mouth,  a  faint  dishonest  touch  to  the  play  of  her 
eye,  a  shameless  boldness  to  her  movements  con- 
cealed without  concealment.  In  the  flash  of  a 
second  she  was  Marilyn  no  longer,  but  Zelda,  the 
ward  of  old  Remsen,  an  unscrupulous  and  willing 
aUy  of  the  "Black  Terror." 

Werner  damned  the  amount  of  footage  used  in 
the  scene,  then  turned  to  the  next,  with  Enid  and 
Gordon,  in  the  same  set,  one  of  the  necessary 
retakes  for  which  the  room  had  been  put  up  again. 

Enid  had  not  noticed  me  and  I  somehow  failed 
to  shake  off  the  feeling  of  fear  that  the  glance  of 
Millard  had  given  me.  Faint  heart  I  was,  and  the 
answer  was  that  1  had  yet  to  win  the  fair  lady.  To 
excuse  myself  I  pretended  she  was  different  under 
the  lights.  It  was  really  true  that,  as  Zelda  Rem- 
sen, Enid  was  not  the  fascinating  creature  I  had 

145 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

met  in  Werner's  office.  There  was  too  much 
Mascaro  on  her  lashes,  too  great  an  amount  of  red 
and  blue  and  even  bright  yellow  in  her  make-up. 
In  striking  contrast  was  the  little  coloring  used  by 
Stella  Lamar,  or  even  Marilyn  Loring. 

Enid's  scene  was  a  close-up  in  which  the  begin- 
ning of  the  love  interest  in  the  story  was  shown.  I 
noticed  that  as  the  cameras  turned  upon  the  action 
the  girl  inch  by  inch  shifted  her  position,  almost 
imperceptibly,  until  she  was  practically  facing  the 
lens.  The  consequence  was  that  Gordon,  playing 
the  lover,  was  forced  to  move  also  in  order  to  follow 
her  face,  and  so  was  brought  with  his  back  toward 
the  camera.  It  was  the  pleasant  little  film  trick 
known  as  "taking  the  picture  away"  from  a  fellow 
actor.  Enid  was  a  "lens  hog." 

The  moment  the  scene  was  over  Gordon  rushed  to 
Werner  to  protest.  The  director,  irritated  and  in 
a  hurry,  gave  him  small  satisfaction.  Both  players 
were  called  back  under  the  lights  for  the  next 
"take."  As  Werner's  back  was  turned  Enid  fa- 
vored Gordon  with  a  mischievous,  malicious  glance. 
The  leading  man  possessed  very  few  friends,  from 
what  I  had  heard.  The  new  star  evidently  did  not 
propose  to  become  one  of  them. 

"Let's  pay  our  respects,  socially,"  suggested 
Kennedy,  at  my  elbow. 

I  followed  his  glance  and  saw  that  Marilyn  was 

146 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

seated  alone,  away  from  the  others,  apparently  for- 
lorn. As  we  approached  she  drew  her  dressing 
robe  about  her,  smiling.  With  the  smile  her  face 
lighted.  It  was  hi  the  rare  moments,  just  as  her 
smile  broke  and  spread,  that  she  was  pretty, 
strikingly  so. 

"Professor  Kennedy,"  she  exclaimed.  "And 
Mr.  Jameson,  too!  Sit  down  and  watch  our  new 
star." 

"What  do  you  think  of  her?"  Kennedy  asked. 

"Enid?"  Marilyn's  expression  became  quiz- 
zical. "I  think  she's  a  clever  girl." 

"You  mean  something  by  that,  don't  you?" 
prompted  Kennedy. 

She  sobered.  ' '  No !  Honestly ! "  For  an  instant 
she  studied  him  with  a  directness  of  gaze  which  I 
would  have  found  disconcerting.  "Don't  tell  me" — 
she  teased,  again  allowing  the  flash  of  a  smile  to 
illuminate  her  features — "don't  tell  me  the  re- 
nowned and  celebrated  Professor  Kennedy  suspects 
Enid  Faye  of  murdering  poor  Stella  to  get  her 
position." 

Kennedy  laughed,  turning  to  me.  "There's  the 
woman,"  he  remarked.  "We  may  deduce  and 
analyze  and  catalogue  all  the  facts  of  science, 
but" — he  spread  his  palms  wide,  expressly — "it 
is  as  nothing  against  a  woman's  intuition."  Facing 
Marilyn  again,  he  became  frank.  "You  caught 

147 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

my  thought  exactly,  although  it  was  not  as  bad  as 
all  that.  I  simply  wondered  if  Miss  Faye  might 
not  have  had  something  to  do  with  the  case." 

"Why?"  I  realized  now  that  this  Miss  Loring, 
in  addition  to  considerable  skill  as  an  actress,  in 
addition  to  rare  beauty  on  the  screen,  possessed  a 
brain  and  the  power  to  use  it.  She  followed 
Kennedy  with  greater  ease  than  I,  who  knew  him. 
"Why?"  she  repeated. 

"Perhaps  it's  the  intuition  of  the  male,"  he 
began,  hesitatingly. 

She  shook  her  head.  "A  man's  intuition  is  not 
dependable.  You  see,  a  woman  gets  her  intuition 
first  and  fits  her  facts  to  it,  while  a  man  takes  a 
fact  and  then  has  an  intuitive  burst  of  inspiration 
as  a  result.  The  woman  puts  her  facts  last  and  so 
is  not  thrown  out  when  they're  wrong,  as  they 
usually  are.  But  the  man — I  think,  Professor 
Kennedy,  that  you  have  some  facts  about  Enid 
stored  away  and  that  that's  why  you  put  a  double 
meaning  in  my  remark.  Am  I  right?" 

He  smiled.  "I  surrender,  Miss  Loring.  You  are 
right." 

"What  is  the  little  fact?  Perhaps  I  can  help 
you." 

"Miss  Faye  and  Lawrence  Millard  seem  to  be 
old  friends." 

"Oh!    Maybe  you  wonder  at  the  contents  of 

148 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

the  sealed  testimony  in  the  case  of  Millard  vs. 
Millard?" 

Kennedy  nodded. 

"Do  you  want  to  know  what  I  think?"  she 
asked. 

"Please." 

"Well,  I've  worked  with  Stella  nearly  a  year. 
It's  my  opinion  she  divorced  Millard  because  he 
asked  her  to  do  so." 

"No,  no!"  I  balked  at  that,  interrupting.  "He 
could  have  obtained  the  divorce  himself  if  he  had 
wanted  it.  Stella  Lamar  and  Manton— 

"That's  talk!"  she  rejoined,  with  a  show  of 
feeling.  "That's  the  thing  I  hate  about  pictures. 
It's  always  talk,  talk,  talk!  I'm  not  saying  Stella 
and  old  Papa  Lloyd,  as  we  used  to  call  him,  never 
were  mixed  up  with  each  other,  but  it's  one  thing 
to  repeat  a  bit  of  gossip  and  quite  another  thing 
to  prove  it.  I'm  not  one  to  help  give  currency  to 
any  rumor  of  immoral  relationship  until  I'm  pretty 
dog-gone  sure  it's  true." 

"You  think  Miss  Lamar  wasn't  as  bad  as 
painted?"  asked  Kennedy. 

"I'm  sure  of  it,  Mr.  Kennedy.  I've  known 
Stella  and  I've  known  others  of  her  type.  Funda- 
mentally they're  the  kindest,  truest,  biggest- 
hearted  people  on  earth.  When  Stella  and  I 
shared  a  dressing  room  I  often  caught  her  giving 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

away  this  or  that — frequently  things  she  needed 
herself.  I've  known  her  to  draw  against  her 
salary  to  lend  money  to  some  actor  or  actress  whom 
she  well  knew  would  never  repay  her.  Stella's 
biggest  fault  was  an  overbalancing  quality  of 
sympathy.  If  she  ever  did  get  mixed  up  with 
anyone  you  may  bet  it  was  because  that  person 
played  upon  her  feelings." 

"Have  you  any  theory  as  to  who  killed  her?" 
It  was  a  direct  question. 

"No!"  The  answer  was  quick,  but  then  an 
amazing  thing  happened.  Marilyn  suddenly  col- 
ored, a  flush  which  gathered  up  around  her  eyes 
above  the  make-up  and  made  me  think  of  a  country 
girl.  She  started  to  say  something  else  and  then 
bit  her  tongue.  Her  confusion  was  surprising, 
due,  probably,  to  the  unexpectedness  of  Kennedy's 
query. 

Kennedy  seemed  to  wish  to  spare  her.  Un- 
doubtedly her  prompt  negative  had  been  the 
truth.  Some  afterthought  had  robbed  her  of  her 
self-control.  "Tell  me  why  you  said  Miss  Faye 
was  a  clever  girl,"  he  directed. 

"Just  because  she  puts  her  ambition  above 
everything  else  and  works  hard  and  honestly  and 
sincerely,  and  will  get  there.  That's  what  people 
call  being  clever." 

"I  see." 

150 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

Werner's  voice,  roaring  through  a  megaphone, 
announced  an  interval  for  lunch.  Marilyn  rose, 
laughing  now,  but  still  in  a  high  color,  conscious 
perhaps  that  she  had  revealed  some  strong  under- 
current of  feeling. 

"If  you'll  escort  me  to  my  dressing  room,"  she 
said,  coaxingly,  "and  wait  until  I  slip  into  a  skirt 
and  waist,  I'll  initiate  both  of  you  to  McCann's 
across  the  street.  We  all  eat  there,  players,  stage 
hands,  chauffeurs — all  but  the  stars,  who  have 
machines  to  take  them  elsewhere." 

Kennedy  glanced  at  me.     "Delighted!"  said  I. 

"We  haven't  much  time,"  she  went  on,  leading 
the  way.  "Werner's  on  a  rampage  to-day." 

"He  isn't  usually  that  way?" 

"It's  Stella's  death,  I  guess."  She  opened  one 
of  the  steel  fire  doors.  "He's  always  that  way, 
though,  when  he's  been  out  the  night  before." 

I  flashed  a  look  at  Kennedy.  Could  Werner 
have  been  at  Tarrytown? 

In  the  long  hallway  of  dressing  rooms  Marilyn 
stopped,  grasping  the  knob  of  her  door.  "It  '11 
only  take  me—"  she  began. 

Then  her  face  went  white  as  the  concrete  of  the 
floor,  and  that  was  immaculate.  An  expression 
which  might  have  been  fear,  or  horror,  or  hate — or 
all  three,  spread  over  her  features,  transforming 
her. 

151 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

Following  the  direction  of  her  stare,  I  saw  Shirley 
down  the  hall,  just  as  he  stopped  at  his  own  door. 
He  caught  her  glance  suddenly,  and  his  own  face 
went  red.  I  thought  that  his  hands  trembled. 

Marilyn  wheeled  about,  lips  pressed  tightly  to- 
gether. Throwing  open  the  door,  she  dashed  into 
her  room,  slamming  it  with  a  bang  which  echoed 
and  re-echoed  up  and  down  the  little  hall.  She 
had  forgotten  our  presence  altogether. 


XIV 

ANOTHER  CLUE 

L^ENNEDY  looked  at  me  quizzically.  "I  guess 
*  *•  we'd  better  not  wait  for  Miss  Loring  to  initiate 
us  to  McCann's,"  he  remarked. 

We  found  our  way  to  the  courtyard,  and  were 
headed  for  the  gate  when  a  young  man  in  chauf- 
feur's cap  and  uniform  intercepted  us.  I  had 
noticed  him  start  forward  from  one  of  the  cars 
parked  hi  the  inclosure,  but  did  not  recognize  him. 

"May  I  speak  to  you  a  moment,  Professor 
Kennedy — alone?  " 

"Mr.  Jameson  here  is  associated  with  me,  is 
assisting  me  in  this  case,  if  it  is  something  con- 
cerning the  death  of  Miss  Lamar." 

"It  is,  sir.  I  saw  you  out  at  Tarrytown  yester- 
day. McGroarty  is  my  name  and  I  drove  one  of 
the  cars  the  company  went  in.  They  were  pointing 
you  out  to  me,  and  I'd  read  about  you,  and  just 
now  I  says  to  myself  there's  something  I  ought  to 
tell  you." 

11  153 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

"That's  right."  Kennedy  lighted  a  cigar,  offer- 
ing one  to  the  chauffeur.  "I'm  not  supernatural 
and  often  I'm  able  to  solve  a  mystery  only  with 
the  help  of  all  those  who,  like  myself,  want  justice 
done." 

"Yes,  sir!  That's  my  way  of  looking  at  it. 
Well" — McGroarty  blew  a  cloud  of  smoke,  appre- 
ciatively— "I  do  a  good  bit  of  driving  for  these 
people,  and  this  morning  it  was  cloudy  and  dull,  no 
good  for  exteriors,  but  yet  sort  of  so  it  might  clear 
at  any  moment,  and  so  I  was  ordered.  I  brought 
my  car  and  left  it  standing  here  in  the  yard  while  I 
went  over  to  McCann's — the  lunch  room,  you 
know — for  a  cup  of  coffee.  When  I  came  back" — 
again  the  cigar — "there  still  was  nothing  doing, 
and  so  I  thought — you  know  how  it  is — I  thought 
I'd  clean  up  the  back  of  the  old  boat,  to  kill  time, 
not  saying  it  wasn't  needed.  So  I  took  out  the 
cocoa  mat  to  beat  it  and  what  do  I  find  on  the  floor 
— between  the  mat  and  the  rear  seat  it  was,  I  guess 
—but  this." 

He  handed  Kennedy  some  small  object  which 
glinted  hi  the  light.  Looking  closely,  I  saw  that  it 
was  a  peculiarly  shaped  little  glass  tube. 

"An  ampulla,"  Kennedy  explained.  "It's  the 
technical  name  the  doctors  have  for  such  a  con- 
tainer." 

"It  must  have  been  between  the  mat  and  the 

154 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

rear  seat,"  the  chauffeur  repeated.  Then  he  dis- 
covered that  his  cigar  was  out.  He  struck  a 
match. 

Kennedy  turned  the  bit  of  glass  over  and  over  in 
his  hand,  examining  it  carefully.  I  felt  rather  fear- 
ful, wondering  if  it  might  not  contain  some  trace 
of  the  deadly  poison  which  had  so  quickly  killed 
Stella  Lamar.  I  even  half  expected  to  see  Kennedy 
find  some  infinitesimal  jagged  edge  or  point  which 
could  have  inflicted  the  fatal  scratch.  Then  I 
realized  that  McGroarty  had  handled  the  thing 
with  impunity,  perhaps  had  carried  it  about  hah0  a 
day. 

Kennedy  took  his  scarf  pin.  On  the  outside  of 
the  little  tube  there  was  no  trace  of  a  label  or  mark- 
ing of  any  sort.  All  about,  on  the  inside,  however, 
the  glass  was  spotted  with  dried  light-yeilow  in- 
crustations, resembling  crystals  and  at  first  apt  to 
escape  even  the  sharpest  scrutiny.  With  the  phi 
Kennedy  scaled  off  one  of  these  and  put  it  under 
his  pocket  lens.  But  he  came  to  no  conclusion. 
Rather  puzzled  and  nettled,  he  dropped  the  tiny  bit 
of  substance  back  into  the  tube,  then  replaced  his 
pin  in  his  scarf,  and  stowed  this  latest  bit  of  possible 
evidence  hi  his  pocket  carefully. 

"How  do  you  suppose  it  got  in  the  car?"  he 
asked. 

"Some  one  must  have  dropped  it  and  it  must 

155 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

have  rolled  in  that  space  by  the  edge  of  the  mat," 
replied  the  chauffeur.  "  There  was  just  room  for 
it,  too!  I  never  would  have  noticed  it  without 
taking  up  the  mat." 

"It  couldn't  be  broken,  by  being  trampled  on?" 

"Nope!    Not  a  chance!" 

"How  long  could  it  have  been  there?" 

"Two  or  three  or  four  days — since  I  cleaned  up 
last." 

I  remembered  the  cleverness  shown  by  the 
guilty  person  in  placing  the  needle  in  the  curtain. 
It  seemed  unlikely  that  this  could  be  an  accident. 
"Isn't  it  possible,"  I  suggested,  "that  this  is  a 
plant;  that  the  tube  was  put  there  deliberately,  to 
throw  us  off  the  track?" 

"It's  quite  likely,"  he  admitted.  "On  the  other 
hand,  Walter,  the  very  smartest  criminal  will  do 
some  foolish  little  thing,  enough  to  ruin  the  most 
careful  plans  and  preparations."  He  turned  to 
McGroarty.  "Who  rode  in  your  car  yesterday?" 

"Mine's  the  principals'  car,"  boasted  McGroarty. 
"Going  out  I  had  Miss  Lamar,  Miss  Loring,  Mr. 
Gordon,  Mr.  Shirley,  and  Mr.  Werner.  Coming 
back  Mr.  Werner  was  with  you,  and  Miss  Lamar — 
well,  there  was  only  Miss  Loring  and  Mr.  Gordon 
and  Mr.  Shirley." 

"Did  you  notice  how  they  acted?" 

"They  never  says  a  word  to  each  other  on  all  the 

156 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

trip  back,  but  I  didn't  think  it  strange  after  what 
happened,  although  usually  they're  always  joking 
and  laughing." 

"You  brought  the  three  to  the  studio  here?" 

"Yes.     They  had  to  get  out  of  make-up." 

"Did  you  leave  the  car  then?" 

"No,  I  hit  it  right  for  the  garage." 

"Were  you  away  from  the  car  at  Tarrytown?" 

"Sure !  That  was  a  long  wait.  Peters,  Manton's 
chauffeur,  and  I  found  a  couple  of  horseshoes  and 
we  were  throwing  them  most  of  the  time." 

"How  long  was  the  machine  alone  here  in  the 
yard  this  morning?" 

"A  couple  of  hours,  maybe.  I  knew  the  old 
boiler  was  safe  enough,  and  that  if  they  wanted  me 
they'd  look  over  in  McCann's." 

"Well,"  Kennedy  extended  his  hand,  "I  thank 
you,  and  I  won't  forget  you,  McGroarty." 

As  soon  as  the  chauffeur  was  out  of  earshot  I 
faced  Kennedy  rather  eagerly,  to  forestall  him  if 
he  had  arrived  at  the  same  conclusion  as  myself. 

"See!    It's  just  as  I  thought  yesterday!" 

"How's  that,  Walter?" 

"Werner!  He  rode  out  in  that  machine,  but  not 
back.  In  Manton's  car  he  was  worried  all  the  tune. 
He  probably  knew  he  had  dropped  the  tube. 
Then  he  hurried  up  ahead  of  us  and  wiped  the 
needle — "  I  stopped,  lamely. 

157 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

Kennedy  smiled.  "See,  you're  jumping  at  con- 
clusions too  fast.  You  remember  now  that  we 
decided  that  the  towel  has  nothing  directly  to  do 
with  the  poison.  In  a  way  you  cannot  assume  that 
this  ampulla  has,  either,  although  I  myself  feel  sure 
on  that  point.  But  in  any  case  no  one  is  elimi- 
nated. It  is  true  Werner  did  not  return  in  the  same 
automobile.  It  is  also  true  that  he  had  little  op- 
portunity to  drop  it  while  others  were  in  the  car 
with  him.  When  McGroarty  was  away  from  the 
car  anyone  could  have  lost  it,  or — as  you  sug- 
gested a  moment  ago — planted  it  there  deliberately 
to  divert  suspicion." 

I  felt  the  beginnings  of  a  headache  from  all  these 
confused  threads  of  the  mystery.  "Can't —  Isn't 
there  anyone  we  can  say  is  innocent,  at  least,  even 
if  we  cannot  begin  to  fasten  the  guilt  upon  some- 
body?" I  pleaded. 

Kennedy  shook  his  head.  "At  this  stage  the 
one  is  as  hard  as  the  other.  I  consider  myself 
lucky  to  have  collected  as  much  material  as  I  have 
for  the  analysis  of  the  poison."  He  tapped  his 
pocket  significantly. 

"Yoo-hoo!"  A  frankly  shrill  call  in  a  feminine 
voice  interrupted.  We  both  turned,  to  see  Marilyn 
Loring  hastening  toward  us. 

"Did  you  think  I  was  going  to  forget  you?"  she 
asked,  almost  reproachfully  and  much  out  of 

158 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

breath.  "Let's  hurry,"  she  added.  "This  is 
roast  beef  day." 

We  started  toward  the  gate  once  more,  Marilyn 
between  us,  vivacious  and  rather  charming.  I 
noticed  that  she  made  no  reference  to  the  incident 
in  the  hallway,  the  precipitate  manner  in  which  she 
left  us  and  the  very  evident  confusion  of  Merle 
Shirley.  Kennedy,  too,  seemed  disposed  to  drop 
the  matter,  although  it  was  obviously  significant. 
For  some  reason  his  mind  was  elsewhere,  so  that 
the  girl  was  thrown  upon  my  hands. 

It  struck  me  that,  after  all,  she  was  attractive. 
At  this  moment  I  found  her  distinctly  good- 
looking. 

"Why  do  you  'vamp'?"  I  asked,  innocently. 
"You  don't  seem  to  me,  if  you'll  pardon  the  per- 
sonal remark,  at  all  that  type." 

She  laughed.  "It's  all  the  fault  of  the  public. 
They  insist  that  I  vamp.  I  want  to  play  girly- 
girly  parts,  but  the  public  won't  stand  for  it;  they 
won't  come  to  see  the  picture.  They  tell  the  ex- 
hibitor, and  he  tells  the  producer,  and  back  I  am 
at  the  vamping  again.  Isn't  it  funny?"  She 
paused  a  moment.  "Take  Gordon.  Doesn't  it 
make  you  laugh,  what  the  public  think  he  is — 
clean-cut,  hero,  and  all  that  sort  of  thing?  Little 
do  they  know!" 

All  at   once  Kennedy  stopped   abruptly.    We 

159 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

were  close  to  the  entrance,  just  where  a  smart  little 
speedster  of  light  blue  lined  with  white  was  parked 
at  the  edge  of  the  narrow  sidewalk.  The  sun, 
after  a  morning  of  uncertainty,  had  just  struck 
through  the  haze,  and  it  illuminated  Marilyn's  face 
and  hair  most  delightfully  as  we  both  turned, 
somewhat  in  surprise. 

"I  know  you'll  never  forgive  me,  Miss  Loring," 
Kennedy  began,  "but  the  fact  is  that  just  before 
you  came  out  we  stumbled  into  a  new  bit  of  evi- 
dence in  the  case  and  I  believe  that  Jameson  and 
I  will  have  to  hurry  in  to  the  laboratory.  Much 
as  I  would  like  to  lunch  with  you,  and  perhaps 
chat  some  more  during  scene-taking  this  after- 
noon— •" 

It  seemed  to  me  that  her  eyes  widened  a  bit. 
Certainly  there  was  a  perceptible  change  in  her 
face.  It  was  interest,  but  it  was  also  certainly 
more  than  that.  I  felt  that  she  would  have  liked 
to  penetrate  the  mask  of  Kennedy's  expression, 
perhaps  learn  just  what  facts  and  theories  rested 
in  his  mind. 

"Is  it — "  Suddenly  she  smiled,  realizing  that 
Kennedy  would  reveal  only  the  little  which  suited 
his  purpose.  "Is  it  something  you  can  tell  me?" 
she  finished. 

He  shook  his  head.  His  answer  was  tantalizing, 
his  glance  searching  and  without  concealment. 

160 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"Only  another  detail  concerning  the  chemical 
analysis  of  the  poison." 

"I  see!"  If  she  knew  of  the  ampulla  the  answer 
would  have  been  intelligible  to  her.  As  it  was,  her 
face  betrayed  nothing.  "I  guess  I'll  hurry  on  over 
alone,  then,"  she  added.  She  extended  a  hand  to 
each  of  us.  Her  grasp  was  warm  and  friendly  and 
frank.  "So  long,  and — and  good  luck,  for  Stella's 
sake!" 

"Hello,  folks!" 

The  dancing  bantering  voice  from  behind  us, 
with  silvery  cadence  to  its  laughter,  could  belong 
to  no  one  but  Enid  Faye.  I  grasped  that  it  was 
her  car  which  Kennedy  leaned  upon.  I  gasped  a 
bit  as  I  saw  her  directly  at  my  side,  her  dainty 
chamois  motoring  coat  brushing  my  sleeve,  the  sun 
which  grew  in  strength  every  moment  casting 
mottled  shadows  upon  her  face  through  the  trans- 
parent brim  of  her  bobbing  hat,  in  mocking  answer 
to  the  mirth  hi  her  eyes. 

For  an  instant  she  gazed  after  the  retreating 
Marilyn. 

"Good-by,  Marilyn!  dear,"  she  called,  mega- 
phoning her  hands. 

The  other  girl  made  no  response.  Laughing, 
Enid  slipped  a  hand  under  my  arm,  the  firm  pres- 
sure of  her  fingers  thrilling  me.  She  addressed 
Kennedy,  however. 

161 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"Do  you  want  a  ride  in  to  the  city,  both  of 
you?" 

Kennedy  brightened.  "That  would  be  fine! 
How  far  are  you  going?  " 

"The  Bun-age.  I  have  a  luncheon  engagement. 
That's  Forty-fourth." 

"Can  you  drop  us  off  at  the  university?" 

"Surely!  Climb  in.  It's  a  tight  fit,  three  in 
the  seat,  but  fun.  And" — facing  me — "I  want 
Jamie  between  us,  next  to  me!" 

As  we  rolled  out  of  the  studio  inclosure  she 
leaned  forward  on  the  wheel  to  question  Kennedy. 

"What  did  Marilyn  Loring  want?  You  seemed 
in  deep  confab!" 

"She  volunteered  to  initiate  us  to  McCann's, 
across  the  street." 

"Oh!"  She  skidded  about  a  corner  skilfully. 
"And—" 

"Well,  we  bumped  into  an  additional  piece  of 
evidence  and  I  thought  Jameson  and  I  ought  to 
hurry  in  to  my  laboratory  instead." 

"I  bet" —  Enid  giggled,  readjusting  her  hat  in 
the  breeze — "I  bet  she  wanted  to  know  what  you'd 
found,  right  away.  Didn't  she?" 

"Yes!"  Kennedy's  face  was  noncommittal, 
"Why  do  you  say  that?" 

"Because  she  came  into  my  room,  just  as  we 
were  getting  ready  for  work  this  morning.  Perhaps 

162 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

I'm  wrong,  but  from  the  way  she  kept  asking  me 
questions  about  everyone  from  Manton  down  I 
got  the  idea  she  was  quizzing  me,  to  see  how  much 
I  knew.  Of  course  this  is  only  my  first  day,  but  it 
seems  to  me  that  Marilyn  is  talking  a  great  deal, 
without  saying  very  much.  I've  come  to  the  con- 
clusion she  knows  a  good  deal  more  than  she  is 
telling  anyone,  and  that  she'd  like  to  find  out  just 
how  much  everyone  else  knows." 

Kennedy  nodded  almost  absent-mindedly,  with- 
out responding  further. 

"Well" — Enid  speeded  up  a  bit — "not  to  change 
connections  on  the  switchboard,  I  think  I'm  going 
to  like  it  with  Manton  Pictures." 

"Will  they  do  justice  to  your  work,"  Kennedy 
inquired,  "putting  you  in  a  partially  finished 
picture  in  this  way?" 

"That's  where  I'm  in  luck,  real  bang-up  luck. 
Werner  has  directed  me  before  and  knows  just 
exactly  how  to  handle  me." 

"What  about  the  story?  That  was  built  for 
Stella,  wasn't  it?" 

"Yes,  but  they're  changing  it  here  and  there  to 
fit  me.  Larry  knows  my  work,  too!  That's  luck 
again  for  little  Enid." 

"How  long  have  you  known  Millard?"  In  a 
flash  I  realized  Kennedy's  cleverness.  This  was 
the  fact  he  had  wished  to  unearth.  The  question 

163 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

was  as  natural  as  could  be.  He  had  led  up  to  it 
deliberately.  I  was  sure  of  that. 

"Four,  nearly  five  years,"  she  replied,  unsus- 
piciously. Then  suddenly  she  bit  her  lip,  although 
her  expression  was  well  masked.  "That  is,"  she 
added,  somewhat  lamely — "that  is,  in  a  casual  way, 
like  nearly  everyone  knows  nearly  everyone  else  in 
the  film  game." 

"Oh!"  murmured  Kennedy,  lapsing  into  silence. 


XV 

I  BECOME   A  DETECTIVE 

IMPORTANT  as  it  was  to  watch  Enid  and 
*  Marilyn,  Werner  and  the  rest,  Kennedy  decided 
that  it  was  now  much  more  important  to  hold  to 
his  expressed  purpose  of  returning  to  the  laboratory 
with  our  trophies  of  the  day's  crime  hunt. 

"For  people  to  whom  emotion  ought  to  be  an 
old  story  in  their  everyday  stage  life,  I  must  say 
they  feel  and  show  plenty  of  it  hi  real  life,"  I  re- 
marked, as  Enid  set  us  down  and  drove  off.  "It 
does  not  seem  to  pall." 

"I  don't  know  why  the  movie  people  buy  stories," 
remarked  Craig,  quaintly.  "They  don't  need  to  do 
it — they  live  them." 

When  we  were  settled  in  the  laboratory  once 
more  Kennedy  plunged  with  renewed  vigor  into 
the  investigation  he  had  dropped  in  the  morning  in 
order  to  make  the  hurried  trip  to  the  Pbelps  home 
in  Tarrytown. 

I  had  hoped  he  would  talk  further  of  the  prob- 

165 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

abilities  of  the  connection  of  the  various  people 
with  the  crime,  but  he  had  no  comment  even  upon 
the  admission  of  Enid  that  she  had  known  Millard 
for  a  period  long  antedating  the  trouble  with 
Stella  Lamar. 

It  seemed  that,  after  all,  he  was  quite  excited  at 
the  discovery  of  the  ampulla  and  was  anxious  to 
begin  the  analysis  of  its  scalelike  contents.  I  was 
not  sure,  but  it  struck  me  that  this  might  be  the 
same  substance  which  had  spotted  the  towel  or  the 
portieres.  If  that  were  so,  the  finding  of  it  in  this 
form  had  given  him  a  new  and  tangible  clue  to  its 
nature,  accounting  for  his  eagerness. 

I  watched  his  elaborate  and  thorough  prepara- 
tions, wishing  I  could  be  of  assistance,  but  knowing 
the  limitations  of  my  own  chemical  and  bacterio- 
logical knowledge.  I  grasped,  however,  that  he 
was  concentrating  his  study  upon  the  spots  he  had 
cut  from  the  portieres,  in  particular  the  stain  where 
the  point  of  the  needle  had  been,  and  upon  the 
incrustations  on  the  inner  surface  of  the  tube.  He 
made  solutions  of  both  of  these  and  for  some  little 
tune  experimented  with  chemical  reactions.  Then 
he  had  recourse  to  several  weighty  technical  books. 
Though  bursting  with  curiosity,  I  dared  not  question 
him,  nor  distract  him  in  any  way. 

Finally  he  turned  to  a  cage  where  he  kept  on 
hand,  always,  a  few  of  those  useful  martyrs  to 

166 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

science,  guinea  pigs.  Taking  one  of  the  little 
animals  and  segregating  him  from  the  others,  he 
prepared  to  inoculate  him  with  a  tiny  bit  of  the 
solution  made  from  the  stain  on  the  piece  cut  from 
the  portiere. 

At  that  I  knew  it  would  be  a  long  and  tiresome 
analysis.  It  seemed  a  waste  of  time  to  wait  idly 
for  Kennedy  to  reach  his  conclusions,  so  I  cast 
about  in  my  mind  for  some  sort  of  inquiry  of  my 
own  which  I  could  conduct  meanwhile,  perhaps 
collecting  additional  facts  about  those  we  were 
watching  at  the  studio. 

Somehow  I  could  not  wholly  lose  my  suspicions 
of  the  director,  Werner;  especially  now  as  I  mar- 
shaled the  evidence  against  him.  First  of  all  he 
was  the  only  person  absolutely  in  control  of  the 
movements  of  Stella  Lamar.  If  she  did  not  bring 
up  her  arm  against  the  curtains  in  a  manner  cal- 
culated to  press  the  needle  against  her  flesh  it 
certainlv  would  not  seem  out  of  the  way  for  him  to 
ask  her  to  do  it  over  again,  or  even  for  him  to  direct 
changes  in  her  position.  This  he  could  do  either 
in  rehearsal  or  in  retakes  after  the  scene  had  actually 
been  photographed.  It  was  not  proof,  I  knew. 
Practically  all  of  them  were  familiar  with  the  action 
of  the  scene,  could  guess  how  Werner  would  handle 
it.  The  point  was  that  the  director,  next  to  Mil- 
lard,  was  the  most  thoroughly  conversant  with  the 

167 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

scenes  in  the  script,  had  to  figure  out  everything 
down  to  the  very  location  and  angles  of  the  camera. 

Another  matter,  of  course,  was  the  placing  of  the 
needle  in  the  silk.  For  that  purpose  some  one  had 
to  go  to  Tarrytown  ahead  of  the  others,  or  at  least 
had  to  precede  the  others  into  the  living  room. 
Offhand  I  was  compelled  to  admit  that  this  was 
easiest  for  Phelps — Phelps,  the  man  who  had  in- 
sisted that  the  scene  be  taken  in  his  library.  At 
the  same  time,  I  knew  it  was  quite  possible  for  the 
director  to  have  entered  ahead  of  anyone  else, 
possible  for  him  to  have  issued  orders  to  his  people 
which  would  keep  them  out  of  the  way  for  the  brief 
moment  he  needed. 

A  third  consideration  was  the  finding  of  the 
ampulla  in  McGroarty's  car.  Stella,  Marilyn, 
Jack  Gordon,  Merle  Shirley,  and  Werner  had  ridden 
out  together.  Werner  had  not  returned.  While 
this  fact  did  not  indicate  definitely  that  he  might 
have  dropped  it,  coupled  with  the  other  considera- 
tions it  pointed  the  suspicion  of  guilt  at  the  director. 

Then  there  was  the  finding  of  the  towel  in  the 
washroom  of  the  office  building  at  the  studio. 
While  Kennedy  now  said  it  was  not  used  to  wipe 
the  needle,  while  we  now  knew  that  the  needle 
remained  in  the  portieres  from  the  morning  of 
Stella's  death  until  late  that  night,  yet  Kennedy 
affirmed  the  connection  of  the  towel  with  the  crime 

168 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

in  some  subtle  way.  It  was  true  that  members  of 
the  cast  sometimes  used  the  washroom,  yet  it  was 
evident  that  Manton,  Millard,  and  Werner,  who 
had  rooms  on  the  floor,  were  the  more  apt  to  be 
concerned  in  the  attempt  to  dispose  of  it.  Against 
Manton  I  could  see  no  real  grounds  for  suspicion. 
In  a  general  way  we  had  been  compelled  to  eliminate 
Millard  early  in  our  investigation.  Again  I  was 
brought,  in  this  analysis  of  the  mystery,  to  Werner. 

One  other  point  remained — the  identity  of  the 
nocturnal  visitor  to  Tarrytown.  In  connection 
with  that  I  remembered  the  remark  of  Marilyn. 
Werner  was  acting  as  he  always  acted  when  he  was 
out  late  the  night  before,  she  had  said.  While  my 
theories  offered  no  explanation  of  the  second  man, 
the  watcher,  I  saw — with  an  inner  feeling  of  triumph 
— that  everything  again  pointed  to  the  director. 

I  determined  not  to  tell  my  conclusion  to  Ken- 
nedy, yet.  I  did  not  want  to  distract  him.  Be- 
sides, I  felt  he  would  disagree. 

"What  do  you  think  of  this,  Craig?"  I  suggested. 
"Suppose  I  start  out  while  you're  busy  and  try  to 
dig  up  some  more  facts  about  these  people?" 

"Excellent!"  was  his  reply.  "I  can't  say  how 
much  longer  my  analysis  will  keep  me.  By  all 
means  do  so,  Walter.  I  shall  be  here,  or,  if  not, 
I'll  leave  a  note  so  you  can  find  me." 

Accordingly,  I  took  up  my  search,  determined  to 
12  169 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

go  slowly  and  carefully,  not  to  be  misled  by  any 
promising  but  fallacious  clues.  I  knew  that  Werner 
would  be  working  at  the  studio,  from  all  we  had 
heard  in  the  morning.  I  determined  upon  a  visit 
to  his  apartment  in  his  absence. 

From  the  telephone  book  I  discovered  that  he 
lived  at  the  Whistler  Studios,  not  far  from  Central 
Park  on  the  middle  West  Side — a  new  building,  I 
remembered,  inhabited  almost  entirely  by  artists 
and  writers.  As  I  hurried  down  on  the  Subway, 
then  turned  and  walked  east  toward  the  Park,  I 
racked  my  brain  for  an  excuse  to  get  in.  Entering 
the  lower  reception  hall,  I  learned  from  the  boy 
that  the  director  had  a  suite  on  the  top  floor,  high 
enough  to  look  over  the  roofs  of  the  adjoining  build- 
ings directly  into  the  wide  expanse  of  green  and 
road,  of  pond  and  trees  beyond. 

"Mr.  Werner  isn't  in,  though,"  the  boy  added, 
doubtfully,  without  ringing  the  apartment. 

"I  know  it,"  I  rejoined,  hastily.  "I  told  him 
I'd  meet  him  here  this  afternoon,  however."  On  a 
chance  I  went  on,  with  a  knowing  smile,  "I  guess 
it  was  pretty  late  when  he  came  in  last  night?" 

"I'll  say  so,"  grinned  the  youth,  friendly  all  of  a 
sudden.  He  had  interpreted  the  remark  as  I 
intended  he  should.  He  believed  that  Werner 
and  I  had  been  out  together.  "I  remember,"  he 
volunteered,  "because  I  had  to  do  an  extra  shift 

170 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

of  duty  last  night,  worse  luck.  It  must  have  been 
after  four  o'clock.  I  was  almost  asleep  when  I 
heard  the  taxi  at  the  door." 

"I  wonder  what  company  he  got  the  taxi  from?" 
I  remarked,  casually.  "I  tried  to  get  one  up- 
town—  '  I  paused.  I  didn't  want  to  get  into  a 
maze  of  falsehood  from  which  I  would  be  unable 
to  extricate  myself. 

"I  don't  know,"  he  replied.  "It  looked  like 
one  of  the  Maroon  taxis,  from  up  at  the  Cen- 
tral Park  Hotel  on  the  next  block,  but  I'm  not 
sure." 

"I  think  I  won't  go  upstairs  yet,"  I  said,  finally. 
"There's  another  call  I  ought  to  make.  If  Mr. 
Werner  comes  in,  tell  him  I'll  be  back." 

I  knew  very  well  that  Werner  would  not  return, 
but  I  thought  that  the  bluff  might  pave  the  way 
for  getting  upstairs  and  into  the  apartment-  a  little 
later.  Meanwhile  I  had  another  errand.  The 
boy  nodded  a  good-by  as  I  passed  out  through  the 
grilled  iron  doors  to  the  street.  Less  than  five 
minutes  afterward  I  was  at  the  booth  of  the  Maroon 
Taxi  Company,  at  the  side  of  the  main  entrance  of 
the  Central  Park  Hotel. 

Here  the  starter  proved  to  be  a  loquacious  in- 
dividual, and  I  caught  him,  fortunately,  in  the 
slowest  part  of  the  afternoon.  Removing  a  pipe 

and  pushing  a  battered  cap  to  the  back  of  a  bald 

171 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

head,  he  pulled  out  the  sheets  of  the  previous  day. 
Before  me  were  recorded  all  the  calls  for  taxicab 
service,  with  the  names  of  drivers,  addresses  of 
calls,  and  destinations.  Although  the  quarters  in 
the  booth  were  cramped  and  close  and  made  vil- 
lainous by  the  reek  of  the  man's  pipe,  I  began  to 
scan  the  lists  eagerly. 

It  had  been  a  busy  night  even  down  to  the  small 
hours  of  the  morning  and  I  had  quite  a  job.  As  I 
came  nearer  and  nearer  to  the  end  my  hopes 
ebbed,  however.  When  I  was  through  I  had  failed 
to  identify  a  single  call  that  might  have  been 
Werner's.  Several  fares  had  been  driven  to  and 
from  the  Grand  Central  Station,  probably  the 
means  by  which  he  made  the  trip  to  Tarrytown. 
In  each  case  the  record  had  shown  the  Central 
Park  Hotel  in  the  other  column,  not  the  Whistler 
Studios.  I  was  forced  to  give  up  this  clue,  and  it 
hurt.  I  was  not  built  for  a  detective,  I  guess,  for  I 
almost  quit  then  and  there,  prepared  to  return  to 
the  laboratory  and  Kennedy. 

But  I  remembered  my  first  intention  and  made 
my  way  back  to  the  Whistler  Studios.  Anyhow, 
I  reflected,  Werner  would  hardly  have  summoned  a 
car  from  a  place  so  near  his  home  had  he  wished  to 
keep  his  trip  a  secret.  It  was  more  important  for 
me  to  gain  access  to  his  quarters.  There  it  was 

quite  possible  I  might  find  something  valuable.    I 

172 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

wondered  if  I  would  be  justified  in  breaking  in,  or 
if  I  would  succeed  if  I  attempted  it. 

Things  proved  easier  than  I  expected.  My  first 
visit  unquestionably  had  prepared  the  way.  The 
hallboy  took  me  up  in  the  elevator  himself  without 
telephoning,  took  me  to  Werner's  door,  rang  the 
bell,  and  spoke  to  the  colored  valet  who  opened  it. 
As  I  grasped  the  presence  of  the  servant  hi  the  little 
suite  I  was  glad  I  had  not  tried  my  hand  at  forcing 
an  entrance.  I  had  quite  anticipated  an  empty 
apartment. 

The  darky,  pleasant  voiced,  polite,  and  well 
trained,  bowed  me  into  a  little  den  and  proceeded 
to  lay  out  a  large  box  of  cigarettes  on  the  table 
beside  me,  as  well  as  a  humidor  well  filled  with 
cigars  of  good  quality.  I  took  one  of  the  latter, 
accepting  a  light  and  glancing  about. 

Certainly  this  was  in  contrast  with  Manton's 
apartment.  There  was  nothing  garish,  ornate,  or 
spectacular  here.  Richly,  lavishly  furnished,  every- 
thing was  in  perfect  taste,  revealing  the  hand  of  an 
artist.  It  might  have  been  a  bit  bizarre,  reflecting 
the  nervous  temperament  of  its  owner.  Even  the 
servant  showed  the  touch  of  his  master,  hovering 
about  to  make  sure  I  was  comfortable,  even  to 
bringing  a  stack  of  the  latest  magazines.  I  hope 
he  didn't  sense  my  thoughts,  for  I  cursed  him 
inwardly.  I  wanted  to  be  alone.  Ordinarily  I 

173 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

would  have  enjoyed  this,  but  now  I  had  become  a 
detective,  and  it  was  necessary  to  rummage  about, 
and  quickly. 

The  sudden  ringing  of  the  telephone  took  the 
valet  out  into  the  tiny  hall  of  the  suite  and  gave  me 
the  opportunity  I  wished. 

Phelps  apparently  was  calling  up  to  leave  some 
message  for  Werner,  which  I  could  not  get,  as  the 
valet  took  it.  What,  I  wondered,  was  Phelps  tele- 
phoning here  for?  Why  not  at  the  studio?  It 
looked  strange. 

I  lost  no  tune  in  speculation  over  that,  however. 
The  moment  I  was  left  to  myself  I  jumped  up  and 
rushed  to  a  writing  desk,  a  carved  antique  which 
had  caught  my  eye  upon  my  entrance,  which  I  had 
studied  from  my  place  in  the  easy  chair.  It  was 
unlocked,  and  I  opened  it  without  compunction. 
With  an  alert  ear,  to  warn  me  the  moment  the 
colored  boy  hung  up,  I  first  gazed  rather  helplessly 
at  a  huge  pile  of  literary  litter.  Clearly  there  was 
no  time  to  go  through  all  of  that. 

I  gave  the  papers  a  cursory  inspection,  without 
disturbing  them,  hoping  to  catch  some  name  or 
something  which  might  prove  to  be  a  random  clue, 
but  I  was  less  lucky  than  Kennedy  had  been  in  his 
casual  look  at  Manton's  desk  the  afternoon  before. 
Still  able  to  hear  the  valet  at  the  telephone,  I 

reached  down  and  opened  the  top  drawer  of  the 

174 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

desk.  Here  perhaps  I  might  be  more  fortunate. 
One  glance  and  my  heart  gave  a  startled  leap. 

There  in  a  compartment  of  the  drawer  I  saw  a 
hypodermic  needle — in  fact,  two  of  them — and  a 
bottle.  On  the  desk  was  a  fountain  pen  ink 
dropper,  a  new  one  which  had  never  been  used.  I 
reached  over,  pressed  its  little  bulb,  uncorked  the 
bottle,  inserted  the  glass  point,  sucked  up  some  of 
the  contents,  placed  the  bulb  right  side  up  in  my 
waistcoat  pocket,  and  recorked  the  bottle.  Next  I 
took  and  pocketed  one  of  the  two  needles,  both  of 
which  were  alike  as  far  as  I  could  see. 

Then  I  heard  a  good-by  in  the  hall.  I  closed 
drawer  and  desk  hastily.  As  I  caught  the  click  of 
the  receiver  of  the  telephone  on  its  hook  I  was 
halfway  across  the  floor.  Before  the  colored  boy 
could  enter  again  I  was  back  in  my  chair,  my  head 
literally  hi  a  whirl. 

What  a  stroke  of  good  fortune!  I  had  no  expec- 
tation of  proving  Werner  to  be  the  guilty  man  by 
so  simple  a  method  as  this,  however.  If  he  were 
the  slayer  of  the  star  he  would  be  too  clever  to 
leave  anything  so  incriminating  about.  I  have 
always  quarreled  with  Poe's  theory  in  The  Pur- 
loined Letter,  believing  that  the  obvious  is  no 
place  to  hide  anything  outside  of  fiction.  What 
I  conceived,  rather,  was  that  Werner  really  was  a 

dope  fiend.    The  nature   of   the   drug   Kennedy 

175 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

would  tell  me  very  easily,  from  the  sample.  Estab- 
lishing Werner's  possession  of  the  needles  was 
another  point  in  my  chain  of  presumptions,  showing 
that  he  was  familiar  with  their  use;  and  added  to 
that  was  the  psychological  effect  upon  him  of  the 
habit,  a  habit  responsible  in  many  other  cases  for 
murders  as  skillfully  carried  out  as  that  of  Stella 
Lamar,  often,  too,  without  the  slightest  shred  of 
real  motive. 

I  recalled  Werner's  habitually  nervous  manner 
and  was  sure  now  that  the  needles  actually  were 
used  by  him.  Was  it  due  to  the  high  pressure  of  his 
profession?  Had  that  constant  high  tension  forced 
him  to  find  relief  in.  the  most  violent  relaxation? 

Elated,  I  was  tempted  at  first  to  crowd  my  luck. 
I  wondered  if  I  could  not  discover  another  ampulla 
such  as  the  chauffeur,  McGroarty,  had  picked  up 
in  his  car.  When  Werner's  servant,  almost  apol- 
ogetically, explained  that  the  telephone  message 
was  from  a  near-by  shop  and  that  he  would  have 
to  leave  me  for  a  matter  of  ten  or  fifteen  minutes, 
I  assured  him  that  it  was  all  right  and  that  I  would 
occupy  myself  with  a  magazine.  The  moment  he 
was  out  the  door  I  sprang  to  action  and  began  a 
minute  search  of  every  nook  and  cranny  of  the 
rooms. 

But  gradually  a  sense  of  growing  fear  and  trepida- 
tion took  hold  of  me.  Suppose,  after  all,  Werner 

176 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

should  return  home  unexpectedly?  The  colored 
boy  did  not  seem  surprised  that  I  should  wait,  a 
slight  indication  that  it  was  possible.  Further,  I 
could  never  tell  when  the  darky  might  not  return 
himself,  breaking  in  upon  me  without  warning  and 
discovering  me.  At  the  best  I  was  not  a  skillful 
investigator.  I  did  not  know  just  where  to  look 
for  hidden  evidences  of  poison,  nor  was  I  able  to 
work  fast,  for  fear  of  leaving  too  tangible  marks  of 
my  actions  behind  me.  A  great  perspiration  stood 
out  on  my  forehead.  Gradually  a  trembling  took 
hold  of  my  limbs  and  communicated  itself  to  my 
.fingers. 

After  all,  it  was  essential  that  Werner  be  kept  in 
ignorance  of  my  suspicions,  granting  they  were  cor- 
rect. It  would  be  fatal  if  I  should  frighten  him 
inadvertently,  so  that  he  would  take  to  flight. 
Realizing  my  foolhardiness,  I  returned  to  my  chair 
at  last,  picking  up  a  magazine  at  random.  I  did 
so  not  a  moment  too  soon.  A  slight  sound  caught 
my  ear  and  I  looked  up  to  see  the  valet  already  half- 
way into  the  room.  His  tread  was  so  soft  I  never 
would  have  heard  him. 

"I  don't  think  I'll  wait  any  longer,"  I  remarked, 
rising  and  stretching  slightly,  as  though  I  had  been 
seated  all  the  tune.  "I'll  ring  up  a  little  later; 
perhaps  come  back  after  I  get  hi  touch  with  Mr. 
Werner." 

177 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"Who  shall  I  say  was  here,  sah?"  the  boy  asked, 
with  just  a  trace  of  darky  dialect. 

Above  all  I  didn't  want  to  alarm  Werner.  I 
could  not  repeat  the  explanation  I  had  allowed 
the  attendant  downstairs  to  assume  from  my 
remark,  that  I  was  a  friend  who  had  been  out 
with  the  director  the  night  before.  I  should  have 
to  take  a  chance  that  Werner's  servant  and  the 
hallboy  would  not  compare  notes,  and  that  the 
latter  would  say  nothing  to  the  director  upon  his 
arrival. 

"I'm  an  old  friend  from  the  Coast,"  I  explained, 
with  a  show  of  taking  the  negro  into  my  confidence. 
"I  wanted  to  surprise  him  and  so" — I  slipped  a 
half  dollar  into  a  willing  palm — "if  you'll  say 
nothing  until  I've  seen  him — " 

He  beamed.  "Yes,  sah!  You  jus'  count  on 
George,  sah!" 

Downstairs  I  wondered  if  I  could  seal  the  tongue 
of  the  youth  who  had  accommodated  me  before. 
Then  I  discovered  that  he  had  gone  off  duty.  It 
would  be  extremely  unlikely  that  he  would  be 
about  until  the  following  day.  I  smiled  and 
hastened  out  to  the  street. 

Once  in  the  open  air  again,  I  realized  the  full 
extent  of  the  risk  I  had  taken.  All  at  once  it  struck 
me  that  no  amount  of  explanation  from  either 
Kennedy  or  myself  would  serve  to  mollify  Werner 

178 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

if  he  were  innocent  and  learned  of  my  visit.  I 
doubted,  in  this  moment  of  afterthought,  that  I 
would  escape  censure  from  Kennedy,  who  surely 
would  not  want  his  case  jeopardized  by  precipitate 
actions  upon  my  part.  I  began  to  run,  to  get  away 
from  the  Whistler  Studios  as  fast  as  possible. 

Then  I  saw  I  had  grown  panicky  and  I  checked 
myself.  But  I  hurried  to  the  Subway  and  up  to 
the  university  again,  and  to  the  laboratory,  eager 
to  compare  notes  with  Kennedy. 

"If  I  were  Alphonse  Dupin,"  he  remarked, 
calmly,  grasping  my  excitement,  "I  would  deduce 
that  you  have  discovered  something.  I  would 
also  deduce  that  you  believe  it  important  and  that 
you  have  no  intention  of  withholding  the  informa- 
tion from  me,  whatever  it  is." 

"Correct,"  I  answered,  grinning  in  spite  of 
myself. 

Then  I  handed  him  the  needle,  telling  him  in  a 
few  brief  words  of  my  visit  to  Werner's  apartment, 
of  the  hallboy's  confirmation  of  a  nocturnal  trip  of 
some  sort,  of  my  search  of  the  desk  and  some  other 
parts  of  the  suite.  "I  fixed  it  so  that  he  won't 
hear  of  my  visit,  at  least  for  some  time.  He  won't 
suspect  who  it  was,  in  any  case." 

Kennedy  examined  the  hypodermic. 

"Not  like  the  one  used,"  he  murmured. 

"I    thought    that,"    I   explained.     "It   simply 

179 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

indicates  he  is  a  dope  fiend  and  is  familiar  with  the 
use  of  a  needle.  Here!"  I  produced  the  ink 
filler  which  I  had  used  to  bring  a  sample  of  the 
contents  of  the  bottle.  "This  seems  to  be  what  he 
uses.  What  is  it?" 

Kennedy  sniffed,  then  looked  closely  at  the 
liquid  through  the  glass  of  the  tube.  "It's  a  coca 
preparation,"  he  explained.  "If  Werner  uses  this, 
he's  unquestionably  a  regular  drug  addict." 

"Well,"  I  paused,  triumphantly,  "the  case 
against  the  chief  director  of  Manton  Pictures  grows 
stronger  all  the  time." 

"Not  necessarily,"  contradicted  Kennedy,  per- 
haps to  draw  me  out. 

"He's  familiar  with  hypodermic  syringes,"  I 
repeated. 

"Which  doesn't  prove  that  no  one  else  would  use 
one." 

"Anyhow,  he  was  out  until  four  A.M.  last  night 
and  some  one  broke  into  Phelps's  house  to— 

"You  can't  establish  the  fact  that  he  went  out 
there.  There  are  plenty  of  other  places  he  could 
have  been  until  four  in  the  morning." 

"But  I  can  assume — " 

"If  you  are  going  to  assume  anything,  Walter, 
why  not  assume  he  was  the  second  man,  the  man 
who  watched  the  actual  intruder?" 

I  turned  away,  despairing  of  my  ability  to  con- 

180 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

vince  Kennedy.  As  a  matter  of  fact  I  had  for- 
gotten the  other  prowler  at  Tarrytown. 

Then  I  noticed  that  the  one  guinea  pig  in  the 
separate  cage  was  dead.  In  an  instant  I  was 
all  curiosity  to  know  the  results  of  Kennedy's 
investigations. 

"Did  you  make  any  progress?"  I  asked. 

"Yes!"  Now  I  noticed  for  the  first  time  that 
he  was  hi  fine  humor.  "I  had  quite  finished  the 
first  stage  of  my  analysis  when  you  came  in." 

"Then  what  was  it?  What  was  the  poison  that 
killed  Stella  Lamar?"  I  glanced  at  the  stiff,  prone 
figure  of  the  little  animal. 

Kennedy  cleared  his  throat.  "Well,"  he  replied, 
"I  began  the  study  with  the  discovery  I  made, 
which  I  told  you,  that  strange  pro  terns  were 
present."  He  picked  up  the  ampulla  and  regarded 
it  thoughtfully.  Then  he  fingered  the  bit  of  silk 
cut  from  the  portieres.  "It  is  a  poison  more 
deadly,  more  subtle,  than  any  ever  concocted  by 
man,  Walter." 

"Yes?"    I  was  painfully  eager. 

"It  is  snake  venom!" 


XVI 

ENID   ASSISTS 

"  A  POISON  more  subtle  than  any  concocted  by 

**  man!"  repeated  Kennedy. 

It  was  a  startling  declaration  and  left  me  quite 
speechless  for  the  moment. 

"We  know  next  to  nothing  of  the  composition  of 
the  protein  bodies  in  the  snake  venoms  which  have 
such  terrific  and  quick  physiological  effects  on  man," 
Kennedy  went  on.  "They  have  been  studied,  it  is 
true,  and  studied  a  great  deal,  but  we  cannot  say 
that  there  are  any  adequate  tests  by  which  the 
presence  of  these  proteins  can  be  recognized. 

"However,  everything  points  to  the  conclusion 
now  that  it  was  snake  venom,  and  my  physiological 
tests  on  the  guinea  pig  seem  to  confirm  it.  I  see 
no  reason  now  to  doubt  that  it  was  snake  venom. 
The  fact  of  the  matter  is  that  the  snake  venoms  are 
about  the  safest  of  poisons  for  the  criminal  to  use, 
for  the  reason  of  the  difficulty  they  give  in  any 
chemical  analysis.  That  is  only  another  proof  of 

182 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

the  diabolical  cleverness  of  our  guilty  person, 
whoever  it  may  be. 

"  Later  I'll  identify  the  particular  kind  of  venom 
used.  Just  now  I  feel  it  is  more  important  to  dis- 
cover the  actual  motive  for  the  crime.  In  the 
morning  I  have  a  plan  which  may  save  me  further 
work  here  in  the  laboratory,  but  for  to-night  I  feel 
I  have  earned  a  rest  and" — a  smile — "I  shall  rest 
by  searching  out  the  motives  of  these  tempera- 
mental movie  folk  a  little  more."  As  he  spoke  he 
slipped  out  of  his  acid-stained  smock. 

"What  do  you  mean?"  As  often,  he  rather 
baffled  me. 

"It's  nearly  dinner  time  and  we're  going  out 
together,  Walter,  down  to  Jacques'." 

"Why  Jacques'?" 

"Because  I  phoned  your  friend  Belle  Balcom  and 
she  informed  me  that  that  was  the  place  where  we 
would  be  apt  to  find  the  elite  of  the  film  world 
dining." 

I  acquiesced,  of  course.  We  hurried  to  the 
apartment  first  for  a  few  necessary  changes  and 
preparations,  then  we  started  for  the  Times  Square 
section  in  a  taxi. 

"I  never  heard  of  the  use  of  snake  venom  before," 
I  remarked,  settling  back  in  the  cushions — "that  is, 
deliberately,  by  a  criminal,  to  poison  anyone." 

"There  are  cases,"  replied  Craig,  absently. 

183 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

"Just  how  does  the  venom  act?" 

"I  believe  it  is  generally  accepted  that  there  are 
two  agents  present  in  the  secretion.  One  is  a  pep- 
tone and  the  other  a  globulin.  One  is  neurotoxic, 
the  other  hemolytic.  Not  only  is  the  general  ner- 
vous system  attacked  instantly,  but  the  coagula- 
bility of  the  blood  is  destroyed.  One  agent  in  the 
venom  attacks  the  nerve  cells;  the  other  destroys 
the  red  corpuscles." 

"You  suspected  something  of  this  kind,  then, 
when  you  first  examined  Stella  Lamar?" 

"Exactly!  You  see,  the  victim  of  a  snake  bite 
often  is  unable  to  move  or  speak.  Doctor  Blake 
observed  that  in  the  case  of  the  stricken  star.  Her 
nerves  were  affected,  resulting  in  paralysis  of  the 
muscles  of  the  heart  and  lungs  and  giving  us  some 
symptoms  of  suffocation.  Then  the  blood,  as  a 
result  of  the  attack  of  the  venom,  is  always  left 
dark  and  liquid.  That,  too,  I  observed  in  the 
sample  sent  me  from  Tarrytown. 

"The  snake,"  Kennedy  continued,  "administers 
the  poison  by  fangs  more  delicate  than  any  hypo- 
dermic. Nature's  apparatus  is  more  precise  than 
the  finest  appliances  devised  for  the  use  of  a  sur- 
geon by  our  instrument  makers.  The  fangs  are 
like  needles  with  obliquely  cut  points  and  slit-like 
outlets.  The  poison  glands  correspond  to  the  bulb 
of  a  syringe.  They  are,  in  reality,  highly  modified 

184 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

salivary  glands.  From  them,  when  the  serpent 
strikes,  is  ejected  a  pale  straw-colored  half -ole- 
aginous fluid.  You  might  swallow  it  with  impunity. 
But  once  in  the  blood,  through  a  cut  or  wound,  it  is 
deadly." 

"There  could  be  no  snake  in  this  case,"  I  re- 
marked. "The  fangs  of  a  serpent  make  two  punc- 
tures, don't  they;  while  here  there  was  just  the 
one  scratch — " 

"Of  course  there  were  no  fangs  when  the  deed 
was  actually  done,"  he  rejoined,  impatiently. 
"We've  traced  everything  to  the  needle  hi  the  por- 
tieres and  it  is  my  belief  that  it  was  part  of  an 
all-glass  hypodermic  with  a  platlnum-iridium  point. 
It  could  hardly  have  been  anything  like  the  coarser 
syringe  used  by  Werner,  nor  do  I  think  it  possible 
that  the  point  of  an  ordinary  needle  would  hold 
sufficient  venom,  since  it  would  dry  and  form  a 
coating  like  the  incrustation  on  the  inside  of  the 
ampulla  McGroarty  found." 

"That  was  the  venom?"  I  asked. 

"Yes,  I  found  it  in  the  ampulla  and  in  the  stain 
on  the  portiere  where  the  needle  had  pierced 
through." 

"The  towel,  though—" 

"Is  something  else.  First  thing  in  the  morning 
we'll  follow  that  up,  as  I  promised  you.  Mean- 
while let's  concentrate  on  motives." 

13  185 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

A  long  line  of  private  cars  and  taxicabs  outside 
Jacques'  testified  to  the  popularity  of  the  restau- 
rant. At  the  door  stood  a  huge,  bulking  negro, 
resplendent  in  the  glaring  finery  of  his  uniform. 
It  seemed  to  me  that  people  literally  were  thronging 
into  the  place,  for  it  was  cleverly  advertised  as  a 
center  of  night  life. 

Inside,  the  famous  darky  jazz  band  was  in  full 
swing.  There  was  lilt  and  rhythm  to  the  melody 
produced  by  the  grinning  blacks,  and  not  a  free 
arm  or  foot  or  shoulder  or  head  of  any  of  them  but 
did  not  sway  in  time  to  their  syncopated  music. 

We  were  shown  to  a  table  on  a  sort  of  gallery  or 
mezzanine  floor  which  extended  around  three  sides 
of  the  interior.  Below,  in  the  center,  was  the  space 
for  dancing,  surrounded  by  groups  and  pairs  of 
diners.  Stairs  led  to  the  balcony  on  both  sides,  as 
though  the  management  expected  none  of  their 
guests  to  resist  the  lure  of  the  dance  between 
courses.  The  band,  I  noticed,  was  at  the  farther 
end,  on  an  elevated  dais,  so  that  the  contortions  of 
the  various  players  could  be  seen  above  the  heads 
of  those  on  the  floor. 

We  were  at  the  rail  so  that  we  commanded  a  view 
of  the  entire  place,  a  location  I  guessed  had  been 
maneuvered  by  Kennedy  with  a  word  to  the  head 
waiter.  The  only  tables  invisible  to  us  were  those 
directly  beneath,  but  it  would  be  a  simple  matter  to 

186 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

cross  around  during  any  dance  number  to  view 
them. 

As  we  took  our  seats  the  lights  were  dimmed  sud- 
denly. I  realized  that  we  had  arrived  in  the 
midst  of  the  cabaret  and  that  it  was  the  turn  of  one 
of  the  performers.  Kennedy,  however,  seemed  to 
enjoy  the  entertainment,  an  example  of  his  ability 
to  gain  recreation  whenever  and  however  he  wished, 
to  find  relaxation  under  the  oddest  or  most  casual 
circumstances,  out  of  anything  from  people  passing 
on  the  street  to  an  impromptu  concert  of  a  street 
band.  In  scanty  garments,  in  the  glare  of  a  multi- 
colored spotlight,  the  girl  danced  a  hybrid  of  every 
dance  from  the  earliest  Grecian  bacchanal  to  the 
latest  alleged  Apache  importation  from  Paris. 

I  have  ofter  wondered  at  Jacques'  and  places  of 
of  the  sort.  The  intermingling  of  eating  and 
drinking  and  dancing  was  curious.  What  possible 
bearing  this  terpsichorean  monstrosity  might  have 
upon  the  gastronomic  inclinations  of  the  audience 
it  would  have  been  difficult  to  fathom. 

The  lights  flashed  bright  again  and  Kennedy 
gave  our  order.  Meanwhile  I  glanced  about  at 
the  people  below  us.  There  was  no  one  in  sight  I 
knew  until  I  leaned  well  over  the  rail,  but  upon 
doing  that  I  felt  little  chills  of  excitement  run  from 
the  top  to  the  bottom  of  my  spine,  for  I  discovered 
in  a  very  prominent  situation  at  the  very  edge  of 

187 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

the  dance  floor  a  party  of  four,  of  whom  three  very 
much  concerned  us.  Lloyd  Manton,  back  to  the 
polished  space  behind  him,  was  unmistakable  in 
evening  clothes.  These  bunched  at  his  neck  and 
revealed  his  habitual  stoop  as  impartially  as  his 
business  suits.  Across  from  him,  lounging  upon 
the  table  likewise,  but  more  immaculately  and 
skillfully  tailored,  was  Lawrence  Millard.  The 
writer,  I  noticed,  flourished  his  cigarette  holder, 
fully  a  foot  in  length,  and  emphasized  his  remarks 
to  the  girl  on  his  right  with  a  rather  characteristic 
gesture  made  with  the  second  finger  of  his  left 
hand.  The  girl  was  Enid,  quite  mistress  of  herself 
in  a  gown  little  more  than  no  gown;  and  the  remarks 
were  obviously  confidential.  The  other  girl,  en- 
grossed in  Manton,  seemed  a  dangerously  youthful 
and  self-conscious  young  lady.  Her  hair  flamed 
Titian  red  and  her  neck,  of  which  she  displayed  not 
hah"  as  much  as  Enid,  gave  her  much  concern. 

"Kennedy!  Look!"  I  reached  over  to  attract 
his  attention. 

"Who's  the  second  girl,  I  wonder?"  He  became 
as  interested  as  I  was. 

With  a  blatant  flourish  of  saxophone  and  cornet 
and  traps  the  band  began  a  jazzy  fox-trot.  In- 
stantly there  was  a  rush  from  the  tables  for  the 
floor.  Enid  jumped  to  her  feet,  moving  her  bare 
shoulders  in  the  rhythm  of  the  music.  Then  Mil- 

188 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

lard  took  firm  hold  of  her  and  they  wove  their  way 
into  the  crush.  It  seemed  to  me  that  the  little  star 
was  the  very  incarnation  of  the  dance.  I  envied 
her  partner  more  than  I  dared  admit  to  myself. 

Manton  and  his  companion  rose  also,  but  more 
leisurely.  On  her  feet  the  girl  did  not  seem  so 
young,  although  the  second  impression  may  have 
been  the  result  of  the  length  of  her  skirt  and  the 
long  slim,  lines  of  her  gown.  We  watched  both 
couples  through  the  number,  then  gave  our  atten- 
tion to  the  food  we  had  ordered.  Another  dance,  a 
modified  waltz,  revealed  Enid  in  the  arms  of  Man- 
ton.  I  tried  to  determine  from  her  actions  if  she 
felt  any  preference  for  the  producer,  or  for  Millard 
when  again  she  took  the  floor  with  him.  It  was 
an  idle  effort,  of  course.  The  people  surged  out 
perhaps  three  or  four  times  while  we  were  at  our 
meal.  Each  time  the  party  below  jumped  up  in 
response  to  the  music.  At  our  cigars,  finally,  I  took 
to  observing  the  other  diners,  wondering  what  we 
had  gained  by  coming  here. 

Suddenly  I  realized  that  Kennedy  was  rising  to 
greet  some  one  approaching  our  table.  Turning, 
rising  also,  I  went  through  all  the  miseries  of  the 
bashful  lover.  It  was  Enid  herself. 

"I  caught  sight  of  you  looking  over  the  rail  while 
I  was  dancing,"  she  told  Kennedy,  accepting  a  chair 
pulled  around  by  the  waiter.  "I  knew  you  saw 

189 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

me.  Also  I  glanced  up  and  found  that  you  were 
perfectly  well  aware  of  the  location  of  our  table. 
So"  —  engagingly — "unsociable  creature!  Why 
didn't  you  come  down  and  say  'Hello!'  or  ask  me 
for  a  dance?" 

"Perhaps  I  intended  to  a  little  later." 

"Yes!"  she  exclaimed,  in  mockery.  "You  see, 
since  Mecca  won't  go  to  the  pilgrim,  the  pilgrim  has 
to  come  to  Mecca." 

"Did  you  ever  hear  of  Mohammed  and  the 
mountain,  Miss  Faye?"  Kennedy  asked. 

"Of  course!  That's  the  regular  expression.  But 
I  agree  with  Barnum.  As  he  said,  some  people  can 
be  original  some  of  the  time  and  some  people  can 
be  original  all  of  the  time,  and  I  propose  to  be 
original  always,  like  a  baby  with  molasses." 

Kennedy  laughed,  for  indeed  she  was  irresistible. 
Then  she  turned  to  me,  placing  one  of  her  warm 
little  hands  upon  mine. 

' l  And  Jamie ! ' '  she  purred.  ' '  Have  you  forgotten 
little  Enid  altogether?  Won't — won't  you  come 
down  and  dance?" 

"I — I  can't!"  I  exploded,  in  agony.  "I  don't 
know  how!"  And  I  thought  that  I  would  never 
dare  trust  myself  with  her  glistening  shoulders 
clasped  close  to  me,  with  her  slim  bare  arm  placed 
around  my  neck  as  I  had  watched  it  slip  about  the 
collar  of  Millard. 

190 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"Now  that  the  pilgrim  is  at  Mecca — "Kennedy 
suggested,  interrupting  cruelly,  as  I  thought. 

"Oh!"  In  an  instant  I  sensed  that  I  was  for- 
gotten, and  I  was  hurt.  "There's  something  which 
came  out  this  afternoon  at  the  studio,"  she  began, 
"and  I  wonder  if  you  know.  Larry — that's  Mr. 
Millard — assures  me  it  is  true,  and — and  I  think 
you  ought  to  hear  about  it.  I — I  want  to  assist 
all  I  can  in  solving  the  mystery  of  Stella  Lamar's 
death,  even  though  Stella's  unfortunate  end  has 
meant  my  opportunity." 

"What  is  it,  Miss  Faye?"  Kennedy  was  study- 
ing her. 

"It's  about  Jack  Gordon.  He's  been  trying  to 
hold  up  the  company  for  fifteen  hundred  a  week, 
which  would  double  his  salary — perhaps  you've 
heard  that?" 

Kennedy  nodded,  although  it  was  news  to  him. 
"I've  been  thinking  about  Gordon,"  he  murmured. 

"Anyway,"  she  went  on,  "it's  gone  around  that 
he's  desperately  in  need  of  money  and  that  that 
is  why  he's  so  insistent  upon  the  increase.  It 
seems  he  owes  everyone.  In  particular  he  owes 
Phelps  some  huge  sums  and  old  Phelps  is  on  his 
tail,  hollering  and  raising  Ned.  Phelps,  you  know, 
has  uses  for  money  himself  just  now.  You  had 
heard?" 

Again  Kennedy  evaded  a  direct  answer.   "Money 

191 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

is  fearfully  tight,  of  course,"  he  remarked,  en- 
couraging her  to  continue. 

"Yes,"  she  repeated,  "Phelps  is  terribly  hard  up 
and  after  Gordon.  And  that's  not  all  about  our 
handsome  leading  man,  Mr.  Kennedy."  She  leaned 
forward.  A  certain  intensity  crept  into  her  voice. 
She  began  to  toy  with  his  sleeve  with  the  slender 
fingers  of  one  hand,  as  though  in  that  manner  to 
compel  his  greater  attention.  "You  know  Stella 
Lamar  really  was  in  love  with  Jack  Gordon.  In 
fact  she  was  daffy  over  him.  And  now  I've  found 
out  that  he  was  borrowing  money  from  her,  was 
taking  nearly  every  cent  she  earned  to  sink  in  his 
speculations.  Do  you  get  that?"  Enid's  eyes 
snapped. 

Most  certainly  I  understood.  I  knew  well  the 
type  of  Stella.  She  had  made  many  men  give  up 
to  her  motor  cars,  expensive  furs,  jewelry,  all 
manner  of  presents.  But  in  the  end  she  had 
found  one  man  to  whom  she  in  turn  was  willing  to 
yield  all.  But  what  of  him? 

"In  the  last  few  weeks,  they  tell  me,  poor  Stella 
disposed  of  many  of  her  handsome  presents  from 
men  like  Manton  and  Phelps  and  others,  all  to  get 
money  to  give  to  him.  At  the  end  she  even  raised 
money  on  her  jewelry.  I — I  think  you'll  find  it  all  in 
pawn  now,  if  you'll  investigate.  I  don't  doubt  but 
that  poor  Stella  died  without  a  penny  to  her  name." 

192 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

I  was  so  surprised  at  this  information  that  I 
failed  to  study  Kennedy's  face.  I  was  completely 
jolted  from  my  own  rapt  contemplation  of  the 
very  soft  curves  of  Enid's  back.  For  here  was 
a  motive  at  last!  Gordon  was  a  possible  suspect 
I  had  failed  to  take  even  halfway  seriously.  Yet 
the  leading  man  was  desperately  pressed  for  money, 
had  had  a  disgraceful  fight  with  Phelps  as  we 
already  knew;  and  not  only  owed  huge  sums  to  his 
fiancee  as  Enid  now  explained,  but  had  quarreled 
with  her  just  prior  to  her  death,  according  to  his 
own  admission  hi  the  investigation  at  Tarrytown. 

Suddenly  the  music  struck  up  once  more.  Enid 
rose,  adjusting  the  straps  of  her  gown. 

"There!"  she  exclaimed,  smiling  abruptly.  "I 
thought  you  ought  to  know  that,  though  I  hate  to 
peddle  gossip.  Now  I  must  hurry  back.  I've 
been  away  long  enough.  But  come  down  later  and 
dance." 

She  swept  off  without  further  formality.  An 
instant  afterward  we  saw  her  hi  the  clasp  of  Mil- 
lard  once  again.  We  watched  during  the  number 
and  encore;  then  Kennedy  called  for  the  check. 

"  Let's  go  up  to  the  apartment,"  he  suggested. 
"I'd  like  to  talk  some  of  these  things  out  with  you. 
It  will  help  me  clarify  my  own  impressions." 

Underneath  the  balcony  I  noticed  Kennedy  turn 
for  a  last  glance  at  Manton's  party.  I  paused  to 

193 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

look,  also.  Enid  was  leaning  forward,  talking  to 
Millard  earnestly,  emphasizing  what  she  had  to 
say  with  characteristic  movements  of  her  head. 

"  She's  pumping  Millard  for  more  information 
about  Stella  Lamar,"  I  remarked. 

Kennedy  had  no  comment. 


XVII 

AN  APPEAL 

WE  strolled  up  Broadway,  resisting  the  attrac- 
tion of  a  garish  new  motion-picture  palace 
at  which  Manton's  previous  release  with  Stella 
Lamar  was  now  showing  to  capacity — much  to  the 
delight  of  the  exhibitor  who  greatly  complimented 
himself  on  his  good  fortune  in  being  able  to  take 
advantage  of  the  newspaper  sensation  over  the 
affair. 

On  we  walked,  Kennedy  mostly  in  silent  deduc- 
tion, I  knew,  until  we  came  to  the  upper  regions  of 
the  great  thoroughfare,  turned  off,  and  headed 
toward  our  apartment  on  the  Heights,  not  far  from 
the  university. 

We  had  scarcely  settled  ourselves  for  a  quiet  hour 
in  our  quarters  when  the  telephone  rang.  1 
answered.  To  my  amazement  I  found  that  it  was 
Marilyn  Loring. 

"Is  Professor  Kennedy  in?"  she  asked. 

"Yes,  Miss  Loring.    Just  a — " 

195 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"Never  mind  calling  him  to  the  phone,  Mr. 
Jameson.  I've  been  trying  to  find  him  all  evening. 
He  was  not  at  the  laboratory,  although  I  waited 
over  an  hour.  Just  tell  him  that  there's  something 
I  am  very  anxious  to  consult  him  about.  Ask  him 
if  it  will  be  all  right  for  me  to  run  up  to  see  him 
just  a  few  minutes." 

I  explained  to  Kennedy. 

"Let  her  come  along,"  he  said,  as  surprised  as  I 
was.  Then  he  added,  humorously,  "I  seem  to  be 
father  confessor  to-night." 

After  sinking  back  in  my  seat  in  comfort  once 
more  I  observed  a  quiet  elation  in  Kennedy's 
manner.  All  at  once  it  struck  me  what  he  was 
doing.  The  multitude  of  considerations  in  this 
case,  the  many  cross  leads  to  be  followed,  had  con- 
fused me.  But  now  I  realized  that,  after  all,  this 
was  only  the  approved  Kennedy  method,  the  mode 
of  procedure  which  had  never  failed  to  produce 
results  for  him.  Without  allowing  himself  to  be 
disturbed  by  the  great  number  of  people  concerned, 
he  had  calmly  started  to  pit  them  one  against  the 
other,  encouraging  each  to  talk  about  the  rest, 
making  a  show  of  his  apparent  inaction  and  lack  of 
haste  so  that  they,  in  turn,  would  shake  off  the 
excitement  immediately  following  the  death  of  the 
girl  and  thereby  reveal  their  normal  selves  to  his 
keen  observation. 

196 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

Not  five  minutes  passed  before  Marilyn  was 
announced.  Evidently  she  had  been  seeking  us 
eagerly,  for  she  had  probably  telephoned  from  a 
near-by  pay  station. 

"Mr.  Kennedy,"  she  began,  "I  am  going  to  find 
this  very  hard  to  say." 

"Really,"  he  assured  her,  "there  is  no  reason 
why  you  should  not  repose  your  confidence  in  me. 
My  only  interest  is  to  solve  the  mystery  and  to  see 
that  justice  is  satisfied.  Beyond  that  nothing 
would  give  me  greater  happiness  than  to  be  of 
service  to  you." 

"It's — it's  about  Merle  Shirley — "  she  started, 
bravely.  Then  all  at  once  she  broke  down.  The 
strain  of  two  days  had  been  too  much  for  her. 

Kennedy  lighted  a  fresh  cigar,  realizing  that  he 
could  best  aid  her  to  recover  her  composure  by 
making  no  effort  to  do  so.  For  several  moments 
she  sobbed  silently,  a  handkerchief  at  her  eyes. 
Then  she  straightened,  with  a  half  smile,  dabbing 
at  the  drops  of  moisture  remaining.  With  her  wet 
eyes  and  flushed  cheeks  she  was  revealed  to  me 
again  as  a  very  genuine  girl,  wholly  unspoiled  by  her 
outward  mask  of  sophistication.  Furthermore,  at 
this  instant  she  was  gloriously  pretty. 

"Again — why  do  you  play  vampire  roles,  Miss 
Loring?"  I  asked,  as  quickly  as  the  thought  flashed 
to  me.  "I  think  you'd  be  an  ideal  ingenue!" 

197 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

"About  a  thousand  people  have  told  me  that," 
she  rejoined.  As  she  replied  her  smile  took  full 
possession  of  her  features.  My  idiotic  repetition, 
entirely  out  of  place,  had  served  to  restore  her  self- 
control  to  her.  "No,  the  public  won't  stand  for 
it.  They've  been  trained  to  know  me  as  a  vamp, 
and  a  vamp  I  remain." 

Facing  Kennedy,  she  sobered.  "Merle  Shirley 
and  I  were  engaged,"  she  went  on.  "That  you 
know.  Then  poor  Stella  made  a  fool  of  him.  She 
didn't  mean  any  harm,  any  real  harm,  but  I  don't 
think  she  knew  how  deep  he  feels  or  just  what  a 
fiery  temper  he  has.  Finally  he  found  out  that  she 
was  only  playing  with  him.  He  was  perfectly 
terrible.  At  first  I  thought  he  had  killed  her  in  a 
burst  of  passion.  I  really  thought  that." 

"Yes?"  Kennedy  was  interested.  He  needed 
no  pretense. 

"When  I  asked  him  point  blank  he  said  he 
didn't."  A  very  wonderful  light  came  into  Mari- 
lyn Loring's  eyes  at  this  instant.  "Whatever  else 
he  would  do,  Professor  Kennedy,  he  wouldn't  lie 
to  me;  that  I  know.  He  would  tell  me  the  truth 
because  he  knows  I  would  shield  him,  no  matter 
what  the  cost." 

"You  simply  want  to  assure  me  of  his  innocence?" 
suggested  Kennedy. 

"No!"    There  was  a  touch  of  scorn  to  the  little 

198 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

negative.  "You  don't  believe  him  guilty;  you 
didn't  even  when  I  did." 

"Then—" 

"But  he  knows  something — something  about  the 
murder  of  Stella — and  he  won't  tell  me  what  it  is. 
I — I'm  afraid  for  him.  He  isn't  sleeping  at  night, 
and  I  believe  he's  watching  somebody  at  the 
studio,  and  I  know — it's  the  woman's  intuition, 
Professor" — she  emphasized  the  word,  and  paused 
— "he's  in  danger.  He's  hi  some  great  threatening 
danger!" 

"What  do  you  wish  me  to  do,  Miss  Loring?" 

"I  want  you  to  protect  him  and" — slowly  she 
colored,  up  and  around  and  about  her  eyes  as  she 
always  did,  until  she  wasn't  unlike  an  Indian  maid 
— "and  no  one  must  know  I've  been  up  to  see  you." 

Gravely  Kennedy  bowed  her  to  the  door,  assuring 
her  he  would  do  all  that  lay  in  his  power.  When 
he  returned  I  was  ready  for  him. 

"  Now ! "  I  exclaimed.  '  *  Now  say  it  isn't  Werner ! 
Here  is  Merle  Shirley  watching  some  one  at  the 
studio.  Isn't  that  likely  to  be  the  director?  And  if 
Shirley  is  watching  Werner  you  have  the  explana- 
tion for  the  second  intruder  at  Tarrytown  last 
night.  Shirley  is  big  enough  and  strong  enough  to 
have  given  the  deputy  a  nice  swift  tussle." 

"A  little  tall,  I'm  afraid,"  Kennedy  remarked. 

"You  can't  go  by  the  deputy's  impressions.    He 

199 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

didn't  really  remember  much  of  anything.  Cer- 
tainly he  was  unobserving." 

"  Perhaps  you're  right,  Walter."  Kennedy 
smiled.  "But  how  about  Gordon?"  he  added. 
"There's  genuine  motive — money!" 

"Or  Shirley  himself!"  I  attempted  to  be  sar- 
castic. "There's  genuine  motive.  Stella  made  a 
fool  out  of  him." 

"It  wasn't  a  murder  of  passion,"  Kennedy  re- 
minded me.  "No  one  in  a  white  heat  of  rage  would 
study  up  on  snake  venoms." 

"If  it  were  a  slow-smoldering — " 

"Shirley's  anger  wasn't  that  kind." 

' '  But  good  heavens ! "  As  usual  I  arrived  nowhere 
in  an  argument  with  Kennedy.  "Circumstantial 
evidence  points  to  Werner  almost  altogether — " 

"You've  forgotten  one  point  hi  your  chain, 
Walter." 

"What's  that?" 

"Whoever  took  the  needle  from  the  curtain  last 
night  scratched  himself  on  it  and  left  blood  spots 
on  the  portieres,  tiny  ones,  but  real  blood  spots, 
nevertheless.  That  means  the  intruder  inoculated 
himself  with  venom.  I  doubt  that  the  poison  was 
so  dry  as  to  be  ineffectual.  If  it  was  Werner,  how 
do  you  account  for  the  fact  that  he  is  still  alive?" 

"Do  you" — I  guess  my  eyes  went  wide — "do 
you  expect  to  dig  up  a  dead  man  somewhere?  Is 

200 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

there  some  one  we  suspect  and  haven't  seen  since 
yesterday?" 

He  didn't  answer,  preferring  to  tantalize  me. 

"How  do  you  account  for  it  yourself?"  I  de- 
manded, somewhat  hotly. 

" Let's  call  it  a  day,  Walter,"  he  rejoined.  "Let's 
go  to  bed!" 

14 


XVIII 

THE  ANTIVENIN 

I  SLEPT  late  in  the  morning,  so  that  Kennedy 
had  to  wake  me.  When  we  had  finished  break- 
fast he  led  the  way  to  the  laboratory,  all  without 
making  any  effort  to  satisfy  my  curiosity.  There 
he  started  packing  up  the  tubes  and  materials 
he  had  been  studying  in  the  case,  rather  than 
resuming  his  investigations. 

"What's  the  idea?"  I  asked,  finally,  unable  to 
contain  myself  any  longer. 

"You  carry  this  package,"  he  directed.  "I'll 
take  the  other." 

I  obeyed,  somewhat  sulkily  I'm  afraid. 

"You  see,"  he  added,  as  we  left  the  building  and 
hurried  to  the  taxi  stand  near  the  campus,  "the 
next  problem  is  to  identify  the  particular  kind  of 
venom  that  was  used.  Besides,  I  want  to  know 
the  nature  of  the  spots  on  the  towel  you  found. 
They  certainly  were  not  of  venom.  I  have  my 
suspicions  what  they  really  are." 

202 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

He  paused  while  we  selected  a  vehicle  and  made 
ourselves  comfortable.  "To  save  time,"  he  went 
on,  "I  thought  I'd  just  go  over  to  the  Castleton 
Institute.  You  know  hi  their  laboratories  the 
famous  Japanese  investigator,  Doctor  Nagoya,  has 
made  some  marvelous  discoveries  concerning  the 
venom  of  snakes.  It  is  his  specialty,  a  matter  to 
which  he  has  practically  devoted  his  life.  There- 
fore I  expect  that  he  will  be  able  to  confirm  certain 
suspicions  of  mine  very  quickly,  or" — a  shrug — 
"explode  a  theory  which  has  slowly  been  taking 
form  in  the  back  of  my  head." 

When  we  dismissed  the  taxi  in  front  of  the  insti- 
tute I  realized  that  this  would  be  my  first  visit  to 
this  institution  so  lavishly  endowed  by  the  multi- 
millionaire, Castleton,  for  the  advancement  of 
experimental  science.  Kennedy's  card,  sent  in  to 
Doctor  Nagoya,  brought  that  eminent  investigator 
out  personally  to  see  us.  He  was  the  very  finest 
type  of  Oriental  savant,  a  member  of  the  intel- 
lectual nobility  of  the  strange  Eastern  land  only 
recently  made  receptive  to  the  civilization  of  the 
West.  When  he  and  Kennedy  chatted  together  in 
low  tones  for  a  few  moments  it  was  hard  for  me 
to  grasp  that  each  belonged  to  a  basic  race  strain 
fundamentally  different  from  the  other.  East  and 
West  had  met,  upon  the  plane  of  modern  science. 
The  two  were  simply  men  of  specialized  knowledge, 

203 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

the  Japanese  pre-eminent  in  one  field,  Kennedy  in 
another. 

Carefully  and  thoroughly  Kennedy  and  Nagoya 
went  over  the  results  which  Kennedy  had  already 
obtained.  After  a  moment  Doctor  Nagoya  con- 
ducted us  to  his  research  room. 

"Now  let  me  show  you,"  said  the  Oriental. 

In  a  moment  they  were  deep  in  the  mysteries  of 
an  even  more  minute  analysis  than  Kennedy  had 
made  before.  I  took  a  turn  about  the  room,  finding 
nothing  more  understandable  than  the  study  hold- 
ing Kennedy's  interest.  Though  I  could  not  grasp 
it,  curiosity  kept  me  hovering  close. 

"You  see" — Nagoya  spoke  as  he  finished  the 
test  he  was  making  at  the  moment — "without  a 
doubt  it  is  crotalin,  the  venom  of  the  rattlesnake, 
Crotalus  horridus." 

"There  was  no  snake  actually  present,"  I  has- 
tened to  explain,  breaking  in.  Then  at  a  glance 
from  Kennedy  I  stopped,  abashed,  for  all  this  had 
been  made  clear  to  the  scientist. 

"It  is  not  necessary,"  Nagoya  replied,  turning 
to  me  with  the  politeness  characteristic  of  the  East. 
"Crotalin  can  be  obtained  now  with  fair  ease.  It 
is  a  drug  used  in  a  new  treatment  of  epilepsy  which 
is  being  tried  out  at  many  hospitals." 

I  nodded  my  thanks,  not  wanting  to  interrupt 
again. 

204 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

Kennedy  pressed  on  to  the  next  point  he  wished 
established.  "That  was  the  spot  on  the  portieres. 
Now  the  ampulla." 

"Also  crotalin."  Doctor  Nagoya  spoke 
positively. 

"How  about  this  solution?"  Kennedy  took 
from  my  package  the  tube  with  the  liquid  made  from 
the  fault  spots  on  the  towel  which  I  had  found  and 
which  had  been  our  first  clue.  "It  is  not  crotalin." 

The  Japanese  turned  to  his  laboratory  table. 

Kennedy  muttered  some  vague  suggestions  which 
were  too  technical  for  me  but  which  seemed  to 
enable  Nagoya  to  eliminate  a  great  deal  of  work. 
The  test  progressed  rapidly.  Finally  the  savant 
stepped  back,  regarding  the  solution  with  a  very 
satisfied  smile. 

"It  is,"  he  explained,  carefully,  "some  of  the  very 
anticrotalus  venin  which  we  have  perfected  right 
here  in  the  institute." 

Kennedy  nodded.  "I  suspected  as  much." 
There  was  great  elation  in  his  manner.  "You 
see,  I  had  heard  all  about  your  wonderful  work." 

"Yes!"  Nagoya  waved  his  hand  around  at  the 
wonderfully  equipped  room,  only  one  detail  in  the 
many  arrangements  for  medical  research  made 
possible  by  the  generosity  of  Castleton.  "Yes," 
he  repeated,  proud  of  his  laboratory,  as  he  well 
might  be,  "we  have  made  a  great  deal  of  progress 

205 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

in  the  development  of  protective  sera — antivenins, 
we  call  them." 

"Are  they  distributed  widely?"  Kennedy  asked, 
thoughtfully. 

"All  over  the  world.  We  are  practically  the 
only  source  of  supply." 

"How  do  you  obtain  the  serum  in  quantity?" 

"From  horses  treated  with  increasing  doses  of 
the  snake  venom." 

A  question  struck  me  as  I  remembered  the  pe- 
culiar double  action  of  the  poison.  "Can  you  tell 
me  just  how  the  antivenin  counteracts  the  effects 
of  the  venom?"  I  inquired  of  the  savant. 

"Surely,"  he  replied.  "It  neutralizes  one  of  the 
two  elements  in  the  venom,  the  nervous  poison, 
thus  enabling  the  individual  to  devote  all  his 
vitality  to  overcoming  the  irritant  poison.  It  is 
the  nervous  poison  that  is  the  chief  death-dealing 
agent,  producing  paralysis  of  the  heart  and  respira- 
tion. We  advise  all  travelers  to  carry  the  protec- 
tive serum  if  they  are  likely  to  be  exposed  to  snake 
bites." 

Kennedy  picked  up  the  tube  containing  the  solu- 
tion made  from  the  towel  spots.  "This  antivenin 
was  your  product,  doctor?" 

"Probably  so,"  was  the  precise  answer. 

"Then  the  purchasers  can  be  identified,"  I 
suggested. 

206 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

"We  have  no  record  of  ordinary  purchasers/' 
Nagoya  explained,  slowly. 

Kennedy  was  keenly  disappointed  at  that,  and 
showed  it.  However,  he  thanked  the  scientist 
cordially,  and  we  departed.  Outside,  he  turned  to 
me. 

"Do  you  understand  now  why  the  night  intruder 
at  Tarrytown  did  not  die — if  he  is  one  of  our 
suspects — from  the  scratch  of  the  needle?" 

"You  mean  he  had  taken  an  injection  of  anti- 
venin  before — " 

"Exactly!  We  are  dealing  with  a  criminal  of 
diabolical  cleverness.  Not  only  did  he  make  all 
his  plans  to  kill  Miss  Lamar  with  the  greatest  pos- 
sible care,  but  he  prepared  against  accident  to  him- 
self. He  was  taking  no  chances.  He  inoculated 
himself  with  a  protective  serum.  The  needle  of 
the  syringe  he  used  for  that  purpose  he  wiped  upon 
the  towel  you  discovered  in  the  washroom." 


XIX 

AROUND   THE   CIRCLE 

'D  like  to  have  another  talk  with  Millard  about 
that  Fortune  Features  affair,"  remarked 
Kennedy. 

It  was  the  third  morning  after  the  death  of  Stella 
Lamar,  and  I  found  him  half  through  breakfast 
when  I  rose.  About  him  were  piled  moving  pic- 
ture and  theatrical  publications,  daily,  weekly,  and 
monthly.  At  the  moment  I  caught  him  he  had 
spread  wide  open  the  inner  page  of  the  Daily 
Metropolitan,  a  sheet  devoted  almost  exclusively 
to  sports  and  the  amusement  fields. 

I  went  around  to  glance  over  his  shoulder.  He 
pointed  to  a  small  item  under  a  heading  of  recent 
plans  and  changes. 

FORTUNE  FEATURES 

It  is  hinted  to  the  Metropolitan  Man-about-Broadway, 
by  those  in  a  position  to  know  but  who  cannot  yet  be  quoted, 
that  Fortune  Features  is  about  to  absorb  a  number  of  the 
largest  competing  companies.  Rumors  of  great  changes  in 

208 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

the  picture  world  have  been  current  for  some  weeks,  and  this 
is  the  first  reliable  information  to  be  given  out.  It  is  pre- 
mature to  give  details  of  the  new  combination,  or  to  mention 
names,  but  Fortune's  strong  backing  in  Wall  Street  will,  we 
are  assured,  have  a  stabilizing  influence  at  a  critical  time  in 
the  industry. 

"Seems  to  be  a  lot  of  hot  air/'  I  said.  "There 
isn't  a  name  mentioned.  Everything  is  'by  those 
in  a  position  to  know'  and  'rumors  of  and  'it  is 
premature  to  give  details  ...  or  mention  names' — 
Bah!" 

Kennedy  turned  to  places  he  had  marked  hi 
several  of  the  other  periodicals  and  papers  and  I 
read  them.  Each  was  substantially  to  the  effect 
of  the  note  in  the  Metroploitan,  although  worded 
differently  and  generally  printed  as:  a  news  item. 

"It's  a  feeler,"  Kennedy  stated.  "There's  some- 
thing back  of  it.  When  I  caught  the  reference  to 
Fortune  Features  in  the  Metropolitan,  which  I've 
been  reading  the  past  two  days,  I  sent  the  boy  out 
for  every  movie  publication  he  could  find.  Result: 
half  a  dozen  repetitions  of  the  hint  that  Fortune 
is  expanding.  That  means  that  it  is  deliberate 
publicity." 

"You  think  this  has  something  to  do  with  the 
case?" 

"I  don't  see  the  name  of  Manton  mentioned  once. 
Manton  is  a  man  who  seeks  the  front  page  on  every 
opportunity.  You  remember,  of  course,  what  Mil- 

209 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

lard  told  us.  Somehow  I  smell  a  rat.  If  nothing 
else  develops  for  this  morning,  I  want  to  find  Millard 
and  talk  to  him  again.  I  believe  Manton  is  up  to 
something." 

The  sharp  sound  of  our  buzzer  interrupted  us. 
Because  I  was  on  my  feet  I  went  to  the  door.  To 
my  amazement  I  found  it  was  Phelps  who  was  our 
very  early  visitor. 

"I  hope  you'll  excuse  this  intrusion,"  he  apolo- 
gized to  Kennedy,  pushing  by  me  with  the  rudeness 
which  seemed  inherent  in  the  man.  Then  he  recog- 
nized the  sheet  still  spread  out  on  the  table.  "I  see 
you,  too,  have  been  reading  the  Metropolitan." 

"Yes,"  Kennedy  admitted,  languidly.  "There 
is  nothing  about  Manton  Pictures,  though." 

"Manton  Pictures,  hell!"  In  an  instant  Phelps 
exploded  and  the  thin  veneer  of  politeness  was  gone. 
With  a  shaking  finger  he  pointed  to  the  item  which 
we  had  just  been  reading  and  discussing.  "Did 
you  read  that!  Did  you  see  the  reference  to 
stabilizing  the  industry?  Stabilizing!  It  ought  to 
be  spelled  stable-izing,  for  they  lead  all  the  donkeys 
into  stalls  and  tie  them  up  and  let  them  kick."  He 
stopped  momentarily  for  sheer  inability  to  continue. 

"I  suppose  you  don't  know  Manton  is  behind  this 
Fortune  Features?" 

"We  were  aware  of  the  fact,"  Kennedy  told  him, 
quietly. 

210 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

Phelps  looked  from  one  to  the  other  of  us  keenly, 
as  if  he  had  thought  to  surprise  us  and  had  been  dis- 
appointed. Nervously  he  began  to  pace  the  floor. 

"Perhaps  you  know  also  that  things  haven't  been 
going  just  right  with  Manton  Pictures?" 

Kennedy  straightened.  "When  I  asked  you  at 
Tarry  town,  just  two  mornings  ago,  whether  there 
was  any  trouble  between  Manton  and  yourself,  you 
answered  that  there  was  not." 

Phelps  flushed.  "I  didn't  want  to  air  my  finan- 
cial difficulties  with  Manton.  My — my  answer 
was  truthful,  the  way  you  meant  your  question. 
Manton  and  I  have  had  no  words,  no  quarrel,  no 
disagreement  of  a  personal  nature." 

"What  is  the  trouble  with  Manton  Pictures?" 

"They  are  wasting  money — throwing  it  right  and 
left.  That  pay  roll  of  theirs  is  preposterous. 
The  waste  itself  is  beyond  belief — sometimes  four 
and  five  cameras  on  a  scene,  retakes  upon  the 
slightest  provocation,  even  sets  rebuilt  because 
some  minor  detail  fails  to  suit  the  artistic  eye  of  the 
director.  Werner,  supposed  to  watch  all  the  com- 
panies, doesn't  half  know  his  business.  In  the 
making  of  a  five-reel  film  they  will  overtake  some- 
times as  much  as  eighty  or  a  hundred  thousand 
feet  of  negative  in  each  of  two  cameras,  when 
twenty  thousand  is  enough  overtake  for  anyone. 

That  alone  is  five  to  ten  thousand  dollars  for  nega- 

211 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

tive  stock,  almost  fifteen  with  the  sample  print  and 
developing.  And  the  cost  of  stock,  Mr.  Kennedy, 
is  the  smallest  item.  All  the  extra  length  is  long 
additional  weeks  of  pay  roll  and  overhead  expense. 
I  put  an  auditor  and  a  film  expert  on  the  accounts 
of  Stella  Lamar's  last  picture.  By  their  figures 
just  sixty- three  thousand  dollars  was  absolutely 
thrown  away." 

Kennedy  rose,  folding  the  newspaper  carefully 
while  he  collected  his  thoughts.  "My  dear  Mr. 
Phelps,"  he  stated,  finally,  "that  is  simply  ineffi- 
ciency. I  doubt  it  it  is  anything  criminal;  certainly 
there  is  no  connection  with  the  death  of  Stella 
Lamar,  my  only  interest  hi  Manton  Pictures." 

Phelps  was  very  grave.  "There  is  every  con- 
nection with  the  death  of  Stella  Lamar!" 

"What  do  you  mean?" 

"Mr.  Kennedy,  what  I'm  going  to  say  to  you  I 
cannot  substantiate  in  any  court  of  law.  Further- 
more I'm  laying  myself  open  to  action  for  libel,  so 
I  must  not  be  quoted.  But  I  want  you  to  under- 
stand that  Stella  was  inescapably  wound  up  with 
all  of  Manton's  financial  schemes.  His  money 
maneuvers  determined  her  social  life,  her  friends — 
everything.  She  was  then,  as  Enid  Faye  will  be 
now,  his  come-on,  his  decoy.  Manton  has  no 
scruples  of  any  sort  whatsoever.  He  is  dishonest, 
tricky,  a  liar,  and  a  cheat.  If  I  could  prove  it  I 

212 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

would  tell  him  so,  but  he's  too  clever  for  me.  I  do 
know,  however,  that  he  pulled  the  strings  which 
controlled  every  move  Stella  Lamar  ever  made. 
When  she  went  to  dinner  with  me  it  was  because 
Manton  wished  her  to  do  so.  She  was  his  right 
hand,  his  ears,  almost  his  mouth.  I  have  no  doubt 
but  that  her  death  is  the  direct  result  of  some 
business  deal  of  his — something  directly  to  do  with 
his  financial  necessities." 

Kennedy  did  not  glance  up.  "Those  are  very 
serious  assertions." 

"It  is  a  very  serious  matter.  To  show  how  un- 
scrupulous Manton  is,  I  can  demonstrate  that  he  is 
wrecking  Manton  Pictures  deliberately.  I've  told 
you  of  the  waste.  Only  the  other  day  I  came  into 
the  studio.  Werner  was  putting  up  a  great  ball- 
room set.  You  saw  it?  No,  that  isn't  the  one  I 
mean.  I  mean  the  first  one.  He  had  it  all  up; 
then  some  little  thing  didn't  suit  him.  The  next 
day  I  came  in  again.  All  struck — sloughed — 
every  bit  of  it — and  a  new  one  started.  'Lloyd,'  I 
said,  'just  think  a  minute — that's  my  money!' 
What  good  did  it  do?  He  even  began  to  alter  the 
new  set!  He  would  only  go  on,  encouraging 
Werner  and  the  other  directors  to  change  their 
sets,  to  lose  time  in  trying  for  foolish  effects,  any- 
thing at  all  to  pad  the  expense. 

"You  think  I  am  romancing,   but  you  don't 

213 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

understand  the  film  world,"  Phelps  hurried  on, 
angrily.  "Do  you  know  that  Enid  Faye's  contract 
is  not  with  Manton  Pictures  but  with  Manton 
himself?  That  means  he  can  take  her  away  from 
me  after  he  has  made  her  a  star  with  my  money,  at 
my  expense.  Why  should  he  wreck  Manton  Pic- 
tures, you  ask?  Do  you  know  that,  bit  by  bit, 
on  the  pretext  that  he  needed  the  funds  for  this, 
that,  or  the  other  thing,  Manton  has  sold  out  his 
entire  interest  hi  the  company  to  me?  It  is  all 
mine  now.  I  tell  you,"  complained  Phelps,  bit- 
terly, "he  couldn't  seem  to  wreck  the  company 
fast  enough.  Why?  Do  you  realize  that  there 
isn't  room  both  for  this  older  company  and  the  new 
Fortune  Features?  Can  you  see  that  if  Manton 
Pictures  fails  the  Fortune  company  will  be  able  to 
pick  up  the  studio  and  all  the  equipment  for  a 
song?  I'm  the  fall  guy! 

"And  yet,  Kennedy,  all  the  efforts  to  wreck 
Manton  Pictures  would  have  failed,  because  'The 
Black  Terror'  was  too  sure  a  success.  In  spite  of 
all  the  expense,  hi  spite  of  every  effort  to  wreck  it, 
that  picture  would  have  made  half  a  million  dol- 
lars. Stella's  acting  and  Millard's  story  and 
script  would  have  put  it  over.  But  now  Millard's 
contract  has  expired  and  Manton  has  signed  him 
for  Fortune  Features.  Enid  Faye  will  be  made  a 
star  by  '  The  Black  Terror, '  but  she  is  not  now  the 

214 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

drawing  power  to  put  it  over  big,  as  Stella  would 
have  done.  I  tell  you,  Kennedy,  the  death  of 
Stella  Lamar  has  completed  the  wreck  of  Manton 
Pictures!" 

Kennedy  jumped  to  his  feet.  There  was  a  hard 
light  in  his  eyes  I  had  never  seen  before. 

"Do  I  understand  you,  Phelps?"  he  snapped. 
"Are  you  accusing  Manton  of  the  cold-blooded 
murder  of  Stella  Lamar  to  further  various  financial 
schemes?" 

"Hardly!"  Phelps  blanched  a  bit,  and  I  thought 
that  a  shudder  swept  over  him.  "I  don't  mean 
anything  like  that  at  all.  What  I  mean  is  that 
Manton,  hi  encouraging  various  sorts  of  dissension 
to  wreck  the  company,  inadvertently  fanned  the 
flames  of  passion  of  those  about  her,  and  it  resulted 
in  her  death." 

"Who  killed  her?" 

"I  don't  know!"  Grudgingly  I  admitted  that 
this  seemed  open  and  frank. 

"At  Tarry  town,"  Kennedy  went  on,  "I  asked 
you  if  Stella  Lamar  was  making  any  trouble,  had 
threatened  to  quit  Manton  Pictures,  and  you  said 
no.  Is  that  still  your  answer?  " 

"For  several  months  she  had  been  up-stage. 
That  was  not  because  she  wanted  to  make  trouble, 
but  because  she  had  fallen  in  love.  Manton  found 
he  couldn't  handle  her  as  he  had  previously." 

215 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

"Do  you  suspect  Manton  of  killing  her  himself?" 

"I  don't  suspect  anyone.  That  is  an  honest 
answer,  Mr.  Kennedy." 

"What  do  you  know  about  Fortune  Features?" 

The  banker's  eye  fell  on  the  newspaper  again. 
"I  know  who  this  new  Wall  Street  fellow  is.  I've 
got  my  scouts  out  working  for  me.  It's  Leigh — 
that's  who  it  is.  And  I'm  sore;  I  have  a  right  to 
be." 

Phelps  was  getting  more  and  more  heated,  by  the 
moment.  "I  tell  you,"  he  almost  shouted,  "this 
fake  movie  business  is  the  modern  gold-brick  game, 
all  right.  Never  again!" 

I  was  amazed  at  the  Machiavellian  cleverness  of 
Manton.  Here  he  was,  on  one  hand  openly  working 
with,  yet  secretly  ruining,  the  Manton  Pictures, 
while  on  the  other  hand  he  was  covertly  building 
up  the  competing  Fortune  Features. 

Kennedy  paced  out  into  the  little  hall  of  our 
suite  and  back.  He  faced  our  visitor  once  more. 

"Why  did  you  come  to  see  me  this  morning?  At 
our  last  encounter,  you  may  recall  you  said  you 
wished  you  could  throw  me  down  the  steps." 

Phelps  smiled  ruefully.  "That  was  a  mistake. 
It  was  the  way  I  felt,  but — I'm  sorry." 

"Now—?" 

Again  the  black  clouds  overshadowed  the  features 
of  the  financier.  "Now  I  want  you  to  bring  out 

216 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

and  prove  the  things  I've  told  you."  The  malice 
showed  in  his  voice  plainly,  for  the  first  time.  "I 
want  it  proved  hi  court  that  Manton  is  a  cheap 
crook.  When  you  uncover  the  murderer  of  Stella 
Lamar  you  will  find  that  the  moral  responsibility 
for  her  death  traces  right  back  to  Lloyd  Manton. 
I  want  him  driven  out  of  the  business." 

Kennedy's  attitude  changed.  As  he  escorted 
Phelps  to  the  door  his  tones  were  self-controlled. 
"Anything  of  the  sort  is  beyond  my  province.  My 
task  is  simply  to  find  the  person  who  killed  the 
girl." 

When  the  financier  was  gone  I  turned  to  Kennedy 
eagerly.  "What  do  you  think?"  1  asked. 

"I  think,  more  than  ever,  that  we  should  investi- 
gate Fortune  Features.  Let's  have  a  look  at  the 
telephone  book." 

There  was  no  studio  of  the  new  corporation  in 
New  York,  but  we  did  find  one  listed  in  New  Jersey, 
just  across  the  river,  at  Fort  Lee.  We  walked  from 
the  university  down  the  hill  and  ovei  to  the  ferry. 
On  the  other  side  a  ten  minutes'  street-car  ride  took 
us  to  our  destination. 

Facing  us  was  a  huge  barnlike  structure  set  down 
in  the  midst  of  a  little  park.  Inquiry  for  Manton 
brought  no  response  whatever;  rather,  surprise 
that  we  should  be  asking  for  him  here.  However,  I 
reflected  that  that  was  exactly  what  we  ought  to 

15  217 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

expect  if  Man  ton  was  working  under  cover.  The 
girl  at  the  telephone  switchboard,  smiling  at 
Kennedy,  had  a  suggestion. 

"They're  taking  a  storm  exterior  down  in  the 
meadow,"  she  explained.  "Perhaps  he's  down 
there,  among  the  visitors — or  perhaps  there's  some 
one  who  will  be  able  to  give  you  some  information." 

I  glanced  outdoors  at  the  brightly  shining  sun. 
"A  storm?"  I  repeated,  incredulously. 

"Yes,"  she  smiled.  "It  might  interest  you  to 
see  it." 

Following  her  directions,  we  started  across  coun- 
try, leaving  the  studio  building  some  distance  be- 
hind and  entering  a  broad  expanse  of  meadow 
beyond  a  thin  clump  of  trees.  At  the  farther  end 
we  could  see  a  large  group  of  people  and  parapher- 
nalia which,  at  the  distance,  we  could  not  make 
out. 

However,  it  was  not  long  after  we  emerged  from 
the  trees  that  we  perceived  they  were  photographing 
squarely  in  our  direction.  Several  began  waving 
their  arms  wildly  at  us  and  shouting.  Kennedy 
and  I,  understanding,  turned  and  advanced,  keeping 
well  out  of  the  camera  lines,  along  the  edge  of  the 
field. 

"Hello!"  a  voice  greeted  us  as  we  approached 
the  group  standing  back  and  watching  the  action. 

To  my  surprise  it  was  Millard,  with  the  specta- 

218 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

tors.  I  looked  about  for  Manton  but  did  not  see 
him,  nor  anyone  else  we  knew. 

"It's  a  storm  and  cyclone,"  said  Millard,  his 
attention  rather  on  what  was  going  on  than  on  us. 

For  the  moment  we  said  nothing. 

The  scene  before  us  was  indeed  interesting.  Half 
a  dozen  aeroplane  engines  and  propellers  had  been 
set  up  outside  the  picture,  and  anchored  securely 
hi  place.  The  wind  from  them  was  actually 
enough  to  knock  a  man  down.  Rain  was  furnished 
by  hose  playing  water  into  the  whirling  blades, 
sending  it  driving  into  the  scene  with  the  fury  of 
a  tropical  storm.  Back  of  the  propellers  half  a 
dozen  men  were  frantically  at  work  shoveling  into 
them  sand  and  dirt,  creating  an  amazingly  realistic 
cyclone. 

We  arrived  in  the  midst  of  the  cyclone  scene,  as 
the  dust  storm  was  ending  and  the  torrential  rain 
succeeded.  For  the  storm,  a  miniature  village  had 
been  constructed  in  break-away  fashion,  partially 
sawed  through  and  tricked  for  the  proper  moment. 
Many  objects  were  controlled  by  invisible  wires, 
including  an  actual  horse  and  buggy  which  seemed 
to  be  lifted  bodily  and  carried  away.  Roofs  flew 
off,  walls  crashed  in,  actors  and  actresses  were 
knocked  flat  as  some  few  of  them  failed  to  gain 
their  cyclone  cellars.  Altogether,  it  was  a  storm  of 
such  efficiency  as  Nature  herself  could  scarcely  have 

219 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

furnished,  and  all  staged  with  the  streaming  sun- 
light which  made  photography  possible. 

Pandemonium  reigned.  Cameras  were  grinding, 
directors  were  bawling  through  megaphones,  all 
was  calculated  chaos.  Yet  it  took  only  a  glance 
to  see  that  some  marvelous  effects  were  being 
caught  here. 

At  the  conclusion  I  recognized  suddenly  the  little 
leading  lady,  It  was  the  girl  we  had  seen  with 
Manton  at  Jacques'  cabaret. 

"  That's  the  way  to  take  a  picture,"  exclaimed 
Millard.  "Everything  right — no  expense  spared. 
I  came  over  to  see  it  done.  It's  wonderful." 

"Yes,"  was  Kennedy's  answer,  "but  it  must  be 
very  costly." 

"It  is  all  of  that,"  said  Millard.  "But  what  of 
it  if  the  film  makes  a  big  clean-up?  I  wouldn't 
have  missed  this  for  anything.  Werner  never 
staged  a  spectacle  like  this  in  his  life.  Fortune 
Features  are  going  to  set  a  new  mark  in  pictures." 

"But  can  they  keep  it  up?  Have  they  the 
money?" 

Millard  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "Manton  Pic- 
tures can't — that's  a  cinch.  Phelps  has  reached 
the  end  of  his  rope,  I  guess.  I'm  afraid  the  trouble 
with  him  was  that  he  was  thinking  of  too  many 
things  besides  pictures." 

There  was  no  mistaking  the  meaning  of  the 

220 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

remark.  Millard  was  still  cut  by  Stella's  deser- 
tion of  him  for  the  broker.  I  caught  Kennedy's 
glance,  but  neither  of  us  cared  to  refer  to  her. 

"Where  can  I  find  Manton  now?"  Kennedy 
asked. 

"Did  you  try  his  office  at  seven  hundred  and 
twenty-nine?"  was  Millard's  suggestion. 

"No;  I  wanted  to  see  this  place  first." 

"Well,  you'll  most  likely  find  him  there.  Fve 
got  to  go  back  to  the  city  myself — some  scenes  of 
'The  Black  Terror'  to  rewrite  to  fit  Enid  better. 
I'll  motor  you  across  the  ferry  and  to  the  Subway." 

At  the  Subway  station,  Millard  left  us  and  we 
proceeded  to  Manton's  executive  offices  in  a  Seventh 
Avenue  skyscraper,  built  for  and  devoted  exclu- 
sively to  the  film  business. 

Manton's  business  suite  was  lavishly  furnished, 
but  not  quite  as  ornate  and  garish  as  his  apart- 
ment. The  promoter  himself  welcomed  us,  for  no 
matter  how  busy  he  was  at  any  hour,  he  always 
seemed  to  have  time  to  stop  and  chat. 

"Well,  how  goes  it?  "  He  pushed  over  a  box  of  ex- 
pensive cigars.  "Have you  found  out  anything  yet?" 

"Had  a  visit  from  Phelps  this  morning."  Ken- 
nedy plunged  directly  into  the  subject,  watching 
the  effect. 

Manton  did  not  betray  anything  except  a  quiet 
smile.  "Poor  old  Phelps,"  he  said.  "I  guess  he's 

221 


THE  FILM    MYSTERY 

pretty  uneasy.  You  know  he  has  been  speculating 
rather  heavily  in  the  market  lately.  There  was  a 
time  when  I  thought  Phelps  had  a  bank  roll  in 
reserve.  But  it  seems  he  has  been  playing  the 
game  on  a  shoestring,  after  all." 

Manton  casually  flicked  the  ashes  from  his  cigar 
into  a  highly  polished  cuspidor  as  he  leaned  over. 
"I  happen  to  have  learned  that,  to  make  his  bluff 
good,  he  has  been  taking  money  from  his  brokerage 
business" — here  he  nodded  sagely — "his  customers' 
accounts  you  know.  Leigh  knows  the  inside  of 
everybody's  affairs  in  Wall  Street.  They  say  a 
quarter  of  a  million  is  short,  at  least.  To  tell  you 
the  truth,  poor  Stella  took  a  good  deal  of  Phelps's 
money.  Certainly  his  Manton  Pictures  holdings 
wouldn't  leave  him  in  the  hole  as  deep  as  all  that." 

I  reflected  that  this  was  quite  the  way  of  the 
world — first  framing  up  something  on  a  boob,  then 
deprecating  the  ease  with  which  he  was  trimmed. 

Was  it  blackmail  Stella  had  levied  on  Phelps,  I 
wondered?  Was  she  taking  from  him  to  give  to 
Gordon?  Had  Stella  broken  him?  Was  she  the 
real  cause  of  the  tangle  in  his  affairs?  And  had 
Phelps  in  insane  passion  revenged  himself  on  her? 

In  the  conversation  with  Manton  there  was 
certainly  no  hint  of  answer  to  my  queries.  With 
all  his  ease,  Manton  was  the  true  picture  promoter. 
Seldom  was  he  betrayed  into  a  positive  statement 

222 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

of  his  own.  Always,  when  necessary,  he  gave  as 
authority  the  name  of  some  one  else.  But  the 
effect  was  the  same. 

A  hurried  call  of  some  sort  took  Manton  away 
from  us.  Kennedy  turned  to  me  with  a  whimsical 
expression. 

"Let's  go!"  he  remarked. 

"What  do  you  make  of  it,  offhand?"  I  asked, 
outside. 

"We're  going  about  in  a  circle,"  he  remarked. 
"Strange  group  of  people.  Each  apparently  sus- 
pects the  other." 

"And,  to  cover  himself,  talks  of  the  other  fellow," 
I  added. 

Kennedy  nodded,  and  we  made  our  way  toward 
the  laboratory. 

"I'll  bet  something  happens  before  the  day  is 
over,"  I  hazarded,  for  no  reason  hi  particular. 

Kennedy  shrugged. 

As  we  went,  I  cast  up  in  my  mind  the  facts  we 
had  learned.  The  information  from  Manton  was 
disconcerting,  coming  on  top  of  what  had  already 
been  revealed  about  the  inner  workings  of  his  game. 
If  Phelps  had  secretly  "borrowed"  from  the  trust 
accounts  in  his  charge  a  quarter  of  a  million  or  so, 
I  saw  that  his  situation  must  indeed  be  desperate. 
To  what  lengths  he  might  go  it  was  difficult  to 
determine. 

223 


XX 

THE  BANQUET  SCENE 

FOR  once  I  qualified  as  a  prophet.  We  were 
hardly  in  our  rooms  when  the  telephone  rang 
for  Kennedy.  It  was  District-Attorney  Mackay, 
calling  in  from  Tarrytown. 

"My  men  have  positive  identification  of  one  of 
the  visitors  to  the  Phelps  home  the  night  after  the 
murder,"  he  reported. 

"Fine!"  exclaimed  Kennedy.  "Who  was  it? 
How  did  you  uncover  his  trail?  " 

"You  remember  that  my  deputy  heard  the  sound 
of  a  departing  automobile?  Well,  we  have  been 
questioning  everyone.  A  citizen  here,  who  re- 
turned home  late  at  just  about  that  hour,  remem- 
bers seeing  a  taxicab  tearing  through  the  street  at  a 
reckless  rate.  He  came  in  to  see  me  this  morning. 
He  made  a  mental  note  of  the  license  number  at 
the  tune,  and  while  nothing  stuck  with  him  but  the 
last  three  figures,  three  sixes,  he  was  sure  that  it 
was  a  Maroon  taxi.  We  got  busy  and  have  lo- 

224 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

cated  the  driver  who  made  the  trip,  from  a  stand 
at  Thirty-third  all  the  way  out  and  back.  On  the 
return  he  dropped  his  fare  at  the  man's  apartment. 
The  identification  is  positive." 

"Who  is  it?"    Kennedy  became  quite  excited. 

"Werner,  the  director." 

"Werner!"  in  surprise.  "What  are  you  going 
to  do?" 

"Arrest  him  first — examine  him  afterward.  Fve 
sworn  out  the  warrant  already,  and  I'm  going  to 
start  in  by  car  just  as  soon  as  we  hang  up.  I 
thought  I'd  phone  you  first  in  case  you  wanted  to 
accompany  me  to  the  studio." 

"We'll  hurry  there,"  Kennedy  replied,  "and 
meet  you." 

"Outside?" 

"No,  up  on  the  floor." 

"You'll  be  there  fifteen  minutes  to  half  an  hour 
ahead  of  me.  I  hope  there  is  no  way  for  anyone 
to  tip  him  off  so  he  can  escape." 

"We'll  stop  him  if  he  attempts  it." 

"Good!" 

The  courtyard  of  the  studio  of  Manton  Pictures, 
Incorporated,  was  about  the  same  as  upon  the  oc- 
casions of  our  previous  visits  except  that  I  detected 
a  larger  number  of  cars  parked  in  the  inclosure, 
including  a  number  of  very  fine  ones.  Also,  it 
seemed  to  me  that  there  was  a  greater  absence 

225 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

of  life  than  usual,  as  though  something  of  par- 
ticular interest  had  taken  everyone  inside  the 
buildings. 

The  gateman  informed  us  that  Werner  was  work- 
ing the  large  studio.  We  made  our  way  up  through 
the  structure  containing  the  dressing  rooms  and 
found  the  proper  door  without  difficulty.  When 
we  passed  through  under  the  big  glass  roof  we 
grasped  the  reason  for  the  lack  of  interest  in  the 
other  departments  about  the  quadrangle.  Here 
everyone  was  gathered  to  watch  the  taking  of  the 
banquet  scene  for  "The  Black  Terror."  The  huge 
set  was  illuminated  brightly,  and  packed,  thronged 
with  people. 

It  was  a  marvelous  set  in  many  ways.  To  carry 
out  the  illusion  of  size  and  to  aid  in  the  deceptive 
additional  length  given  by  the  mirrors  at  the  farther 
end,  Werner  had  decided  against  the  usual  one  large 
table  arranged  horseshoe-like,  but  had  substituted 
instead  a  great  number  of  individual  smaller  tables, 
about  which  he  had  grouped  the  various  guests. 
The  placing  of  those  nearest  the  mirrors  had  been 
so  arranged  as  to  give  no  double  images,  thus 
betraying  the  trick.  The  waiters,  all  the  charac- 
ters who  walked  about,  were  kept  near  the  front 
toward  the  cameras  for  the  same  reason.  It 
seemed  as  if  the  banquet  hall  was  at  least  twice  its 
actual  size. 

226 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

I  saw  that  Millard  had  arrived  ahead  of  us. 
Either  the  changing  of  the  scenes  in  his  script  to  fit 
Enid  had  not  taken  him  very  long  or  else  the  pho- 
tographing of  this  particular  bit  of  action  had 
proved  sufficiently  fascinating  to  draw  him  away 
from  his  work.  I  wondered  at  first  if  he  had  come 
to  the  studio  to  use  his  office  here,  an  infrequent 
happening,  from  Manton's  account.  Then  I  re- 
alized that  he  was  hi  evening  dress.  Without  doubt 
he  planned  to  play  a  minor  part  in  the  banquet. 
His  presence  was  no  accident. 

Then  I  picked  out  Manton  himself  from  our 
point  of  observation  in  a  quiet  corner  selected  by 
Kennedy  for  that  purpose.  It  was  evident  that 
the  promoter  had  cleared  up  his  business  at  the 
office  rapidly  since  we  had  left  him  there  to  go  to 
our  quarters  on  the  Heights  and  had  departed 
immediately  from  the  latter  place  so  as  to  precede 
the  District  Attorney  here. 

Manton  as  well  as  Millard  was  in  evening  dress. 
A  moment  later  I  recognized  Phelps,  and  he,  too, 
wore  his  formal  clothes.  In  an  instant  I  grasped 
that  Werner  actually  was  saving  money.  Not 
only  were  these  officials  of  the  company  present  to 
help  fill  up  the  tables,  but  I  was  able  now  to  pick 
out  a  number  of  the  guests  who  were  uneasy  hi 
their  make-up  and  more  or  less  out  of  place  in  full- 
dress  attire.  They  certainly  were  not  actors. 

227 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

One  girl  I  definitely  placed  as  the  stenographer 
from  Manton's  waiting  room  at  the  studio;  then 
other  things  caught  my  attention.  I  could  not 
help  but  doubt  the  stories  of  waste  told  us  by 
Phelps  as  I  looked  over  the  scene  before  me.  The 
use  of  the  mirrors  to  avoid  building  the  full  length 
of  the  floor  did  not  seem  to  fit  in  with  the  theory 
that  Manton  and  Werner  were  making  every  effort 
to  wreck  the  company  deliberately. 

I  watched  the  financier  for  several  moments,  but 
did  not  detect  anything  from  his  manner  except 
that  he  seemed  to  feel  ill  at  ease  and  awkward  in 
make-up.  I  picked  out  Millard  again  and  this 
time  found  him  talking  with  Enid  Faye  and  Gordon. 
Immediately  I  sensed  a  dramatic  conflict,  carefully 
suppressed,  but  having  too  many  of  the  outward 
indications  to  fool  anyone.  In  fact,  a  child  would 
have  observed  that  Lawrence  Millard  and  the 
leading  man  needed  little  urging  to  engage  in  a 
scuffle  then  and  there.  Though  Stella  Lamar  was 
dead,  this  was  the  heritage  she  had  left.  Her 
touch  had  embittered  two  men  beyond  the  point 
of  reconciliation — the  husband  who  had  been,  and 
the  husband  who  was  to  be.  Of  the  two,  Millard 
had  far  the  better  control  of  himself,  however. 

After  a  brief  word  or  so  Gordon  left  them.  At 
once  I  could  see  the  relief  in  the  expressions  of  both 
the  others.  Again  I  wondered  just  what  might  be 

228 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

between  these  two.  It  was  an  easy  familiarity 
which  might  have  been  as  casual  as  it  seemed  to  be, 
no  more,  or  which  might  have  been  a  mask  for  some- 
thing far  deeper  and  more  enduring,  the  schooled 
outer  cloak  of  an  inner  perfect  understanding. 

Werner  was  by  far  the  busiest  of  those  waiting 
in  the  stifling  heat  beneath  the  glass  roof.  He  was 
in  evening  dress,  prepared  to  take  his  own  place 
before  the  camera,  and  hi  straight  make-up,  so 
that  he  looked  nothing  like  the  slain  millionaire, 
the  part  he  had  played  in  the  opening  scenes.  I 
saw  that  he  was  a  master  hi  the  art  of  make-up. 
I  was  sure  that  he  was  more  nervous  than  usual. 
It  struck  me  that  he  needed  the  stimulus  of  the  drug 
he  used,  although  later  I  knew  that  he  must  have 
felt,  intuitively,  the  coming  of  events  which  fol- 
lowed close  upon  the  attempt  to  photograph  the 
action. 

As  more  of  the  people  hurried  up  from  the  offices 
and  around  from  the  manuscript  and  other  depart- 
ments, very  conscious  of  their  formal  attire,  and  as 
the  regular  players  changed  and  adjusted  the  make- 
ups of  these  amateurs,  the  banquet  took  on  the 
proportions  of  a  real  affair. 

The  members  of  the  cast  were  placed  at  the  table 
in  the  foreground.  Enid,  Gordon,  Marilyn,  and  a 
fourth  man  were  assigned  locations;  after  which 
Werner  proceeded  to  fill  the  seats  hi  the  rear. 

229 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

With  the  exception  of  Millard  and  Phelps,  none  of 
the  inexperienced  people  were  allowed  to  face  the 
camera.  Manton,  whose  features  were  familiar 
through  published  interviews  in  many  publicity 
campaigns,  was  placed  to  one  side  opposite  Phelps. 
Millard  was  given  charge  of  a  group  containing  a 
number  of  giddy  extra  girls  in  somewhat  diaphanous 
costume,  and  seemed  to  be  in  his  element. 

The  tables  themselves  were  prepared  with  per- 
fect taste.  I  could  see  that  real  food  was  being 
used,  in  order  to  achieve  a  greater  degree  of  realism, 
for  a  caterer  had  set  up  a  buffet  some  distance  out 
of  the  scene  from  which  to  serve  the  courses  called 
for  in  the  script.  Many  of  the  dishes  were  being 
kept  hot,  the  steam  curling  from  beneath  the  covers 
in  appetizing  wisps.  The  wine,  supposed  to  be 
champagne,  was  sparkling  apple  juice  of  the  best 
quality,  and  I  don't  doubt  but  that  before  the  days 
of  prohibition  Werner  would  have  insisted  upon  the 
real  fizz  water.  In  details  such  as  these  the  director 
was  showing  no  economy. 

"All  ready  now?"  Werner  called,  stepping  back 
to  a  place  at  a  table  which  he  had  reserved  for 
himself.  "All  set?  Remember  the  action  of  the 
script?" 

Instantly  the  buzz  of  conversation  died  and 
everyone  turned  to  him. 

"No,  no,  no ! "  he  exclaimed  in  vexation.     " Don't 

230 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

go  dead  on  your  feet.  This  is  a  banquet.  You  are 
having  a  good  time.  It's  not  a  funeral!  You 
were  all  in  just  the  right  state  of  mind  before,  and 
you  don't  have  to  stop  and  gape  to  listen  to  me. 
Keep  right  on  talking  and  laughing.  My  voice 
will  carry  and  you  can  hear  without  getting  out  of 
your  parts." 

I  turned  to  Kennedy,  to  see  how  the  picture- 
making  struck  him.  I  saw  that  he  was  watching 
the  two  girls  at  the  forward  table  closely  and  so  I 
faced  about  to  follow  his  glance.  Marilyn's  face 
was  red  with  anger,  while  Enid,  calm  and  rather 
malicious,  was  ignoring  her  to  devote  all  attention 
to  Gordon.  The  leading  man,  bored  and  irri- 
tated, made  no  effort  to  conceal  a  heavy  scowl. 
In  the  momentary  interval  following  Werner's 
instructions,  Marilyn  lost  all  control  of  herself. 

"If  you  will  pardon  me,  Miss  Faye,"  she  cried 
out  in  a  voice  which  carried  over  to  us  and  with 
cutting  accent  upon  the  "Miss,"  "I  think  that  in 
this  scene  at  least  we  should  both  be  facing  the 
camera.  If  I  understand  the  scene  in  the  script 
at  all  it  is  intended  to  show  the  conflict  between 
the  two  women  over  the  one  man  seated  between 
them.  Jack  Daring  is  to  be  swayed  first  by  Stella 
Remsen,  then  by  Zelda.  At  least  this  once  I 
think  the  daughter  of  old  Remsen  and  his  ward 
are  playing  roles  of  equal  importance." 

231 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

For  a  moment  I  smiled,  realizing  that  Marilyn 
was  not  going  to  let  Enid  "take  the  picture  away" 
from  her  as  we  had  seen  the  new  star  do  in  one  of 
her  first  scenes  with  the  leading  man.  Then  I 
sobered,  realizing  that  it  was  the  outer  reflection 
of  the  deep-running  passion  of  these  people.  The 
cloud  of  Stella's  death  was  over  them  still. 

Enid  responded,  but  in  tones  too  low  for  us  to 
hear.  A  new  flush  of  red  in  Marilyn's  face,  how- 
ever, demonstrated  the  power  in  the  lash  of  the 
other  girl's  tongue.  Werner  hurried  over  to  them, 
not  masking  his  own  irritation  any  too  well.  With- 
out a  word  he  began  rearranging  the  table,  moving 
it  slightly  so  that  while  there  was  no  great  difference 
in  its  position  he  had  yet  made  a  show  of  satisfying 
Marilyn.  In  effect  he  pleased  neither.  The  two 
pretty  faces  closest  to  the  camera  were  a  study  in 
discontent. 

"I  don't  wonder  that  moving-picture  directors  are 
nervous, ' '  Kennedy  remarked.  ' '  Film  manufacture 
must  keep  everyone  under  constant  tension." 

"What  do  you  make  of  the  feeling  between  the 
different  people?"  I  asked.  "Did  you  notice  Mil- 
lard  and  Gordon,  and  now  Enid  and  Marilyn?" 

"There's  something  under  cover,"  he  rejoined; 
"something  behind  all  this.  I  get  the  impression 
that  our  suspects  are  watching  one  another,  like  as 
many  hawks.  At  various  times  most  of  them  have 

232 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

glanced  over  at  us.  They  know  we  are  here  and 
are  conscious  they  may  be  under  suspicion.  There- 
fore I  particularly  want  to  see  how  those  two  girls 
act  when  Mackay  arrives  to  arrest  Werner." 

The  director,  stepping  back  to  his  place,  took 
a  megaphone  from  his  assistant  for  use  in  the 
rehearsal. 

"Now  you  must  act  just  as  though  this  were  a 
real  banquet,"  he  shouted.  "Try  to  forget  that 
the  Black  Terror  is  lurking  outside  the  window, 
that  an  attack  is  coming  from  him.  Remember, 
when  the  shot  is  fired  you  must  all  leap  up  as 
though  you  meant  it.  Here!  You — you — you — " 
designating  certain  extra  girls,  "faint  when  it 
happens.  That's  not  until  after  the  toast  is  pro- 
posed. I'll  propose  the  toast  from  my  table  and  it 
will  be  the  cue  for  Shirley,  outside.  Now  don't 
get  ahead  of  the  action.  You  amateurs,  don't 
turn  around  to  see  if  the  camera  is  working.  We'll 
go  through  the  action  up  to  the  moment  I  propose 
the  toast." 

The  buzz  of  conversation  rose  slightly  as  though 
an  effort  was  being  put  into  the  gayety.  I  glanced 
about  at  some  of  the  people  who  were  cast  for  only 
this  one  scene,  wishing  I  could  read  lips,  because  I 
was  sure  many  of  them  talked  of  matters  wholly 
out  of  place  in  this  setting.  At  the  same  time  I 
kept  an  eye  on  the  principals  and  upon  Werner. 

16  233 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

Finally  the  director  was  satisfied,  after  a  second 
rehearsal. 

"All  right,"  he  bellowed,  throwing  the  mega- 
phone from  the  scene.  "Shoot!" 

At  the  same  instant  he  dropped  to  his  place  and 
apparently  was  a  guest  with  no  interest  but  in  the 
food  and  wine  before  him. 

At  the  cameras — there  were  three  of  them — the 
assistant  director  kept  a  careful  watch  of  the  general 
action.  In  actual  time  by  the  watch  the  whole  was 
very  short,  a  second  measuring  to  sixteen  pictures 
or  a  foot  of  film  as  I  explained  afterward  to  Ken- 
nedy. The  entire  scene  perhaps  ran  one  hundred 
or  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet. 

But  on  the  screen,  even  to  the  spectators  in  the 
studio,  the  illusion  in  a  scene  of  the  kind  would  be 
the  duration  of  half  an  hour  or  even  more.  This 
would  be  helped  by  close-ups  of  the  individual 
action,  especially  by  the  byplay  between  the  prin- 
cipals, taken  later  and  inserted  into  the  long  shot 
by  the  film  cutter. 

I  know  I  was  carried  away  by  a  sense  of  reality. 
It  seemed  to  me  that  waiters  made  endless  trips  to 
and  fro,  that  here  and  there  pretty  girls  broke  into 
laughter  constantly  or  that  men  leaned  forward 
every  other  moment  to  make  witty  remarks;  in 
fact  I  felt  genuinely  sorry  I  could  not  take  part  hi 
the  festivities.  I  knew  that  danger,  in  the  person 

234 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

of  the  Black  Terror  as  played  by  Shirley,  lurked 
just  out  the  window.  I  felt  delicious  anticipatory 
thrills  of  fear,  so  thoroughly  was  I  in  the  spirit  of 
the  thing.  Then  I  saw  that  Werner  was  about  to 
propose  the  toast,  about  to  give  the  cue  for  the  big 
action. 

"Watch  him,"  whispered  Kennedy.  "He's  an 
actor.  He's  taking  that  drink  just  as  though  he 
meant  every  drop  of  it." 

Werner  had  raised  his  delicately  stemmed  glass 
as  though  to  join  his  neighbor  hi  some  pledge  when 
a  new  idea  seemed  to  strike  him.  He  leaped  to  his 
feet. 

"Let's  drink  together!  Let's  drink  to  our  hero 
and  heroine  of  the  evening! " 

Other  voices  rose  in  acclamation.  The  wine  had 
been  poured  lavishly.  Glasses  clinked  and  we 
could  hear  laughter. 

Suddenly  at  the  window,  back  of  everyone,  ap- 
peared the  evil,  black-masked  figure  of  Shirley,  eyes 
glittering  menacingly  from  their  slits,  two  weapons 
glistening  blue  in  his  hands. 

At  the  same  moment  there  was  a  terrible  groan, 
followed  by  a  scream  of  agony.  Werner  staggered 
back,  his  left  hand  clutched  at  his  breast.  From 
his  right  hand  the  glass  which  he  had  drained  fell 
to  the  canvas  corered  floor  with  an  ominous  dull 
crash. 

235 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

This  was  not  in  the  script!  Practically  every- 
body realized  the  fact,  for  the  scene  instantly  was 
in  an  uproar.  In  the  general  consternation  no  one 
seemed  to  know  just  what  to  do. 

Shirley  was  the  first  to  act,  the  first  to  realize 
what  had  happened.  Dropping  his  weapons,  reach- 
ing the  side  of  the  stricken  director  in  one  leap,  he 
supported  him  as  he  reeled  drunkenly,  then  eased 
him  to  the  floor.  Behind  us,  before  I  could  look 
to  Kennedy  to  see  what  he  would  do,  there  was  the 
gasp  of  a  man  out  of  breath  from  hurrying  up- 
stairs. I  turned,  startled,  It  was  Mackay. 

"Shall  I  make  the  collar?"  he  wheezed.  At  the 
same  instant  he  saw  the  gathering  crowd  in  the  set. 
"What — what's  happened?"  he  asked. 

Kennedy  had  bounded  forward  only  a  few  seconds 
after  Shirley.  As  I  pushed  through  after  him, 
Mackay  following,  I  discovered  him  kneeling  at  the 
side  of  Werner. 

"Some  one  send  for  a  doctor,  quick,"  he  com- 
manded, taking  charge  of  things  as  a  matter  of 
course.  "Hurry!"  he  repeated.  "He's  gasping 
for  air  and  it  '11  be  too  late  in  a  minute." 

Then  he  saw  us.  "  Walter — Mackay ' ' — he  raised 
Werner's  head — "push  everyone  back,  please! 
Give  him  a  chance  to  breathe! " 

A  thousand  thoughts  flashed  through  my  head 
as  politely  but  firmly  I  widened  the  space  about 

236 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

Kennedy  and  the  director.  Was  this  a  case  of 
suicide?  Had  Werner  known  we  were  coming  for 
him?  Had  he  thought  to  bring  about  his  own  end 
in  the  most  spectacular  fashion  possible?  Was  this 
the  fancy  of  a  drug-weakened  brain? 

Suddenly  I  realized  that  Werner  was  trying  to 
speak.  One  of  the  camera  men  had  helped  Ken- 
nedy lift  him  to  the  top  of  a  table,  swept  of  its 
dishes  and  linen,  so  as  to  make  it  easier  for  him 
to  breathe. 

"Out  in  Tarrytown,"  he  muttered,  weakly,  "that 
night  —  I  suspected  —  and  —  saw — "  His  voice 
trailed  off  into  nothingness.  Even  the  motion  of 
his  lips  was  too  feeble  to  follow. 

In  an  instant  I  grasped  the  cruel  injustice  I  had 
done  this  man  in  my  mind.  It  was  now  that  I 
remembered,  in  a  flash,  Kennedy's  attitude  and  was 
glad  that  Kennedy  had  not  suspected  him. 

"See!"  I  faced  Mackay,  speaking  in  quick,  low 
tones  so  the  others  could  not  hear.  "I — we — have 
been  totally  and  absolutely  wrong  in  suspecting 
Werner.  Instead,  it  was  he  who  has  been  playing 
our  game — trying  to  confirm  his  own  suspicions. 
I've  been  entirely  wrong  in  my  deductions  from  the 
discovery  of  his  dope  and  needles." 

"What  do  you  mean,  Jameson?"  The  district 
attorney  had  been  taken  completely  off  his  feet  by 
the  unexpected  developments.  His  eyes  were 

237 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

rather  dazed,  his  expression  baffled.  "What  do 
you  mean?  " 

"Why  he  was  out  at  Tarry-town  that  night,  all 
right,  don't  you  see — but — but  he  was  the  second 
man,  the  man  who  watched!" 

Mackay  still  seemed  unable  to  comprehend. 

"There  were  two  men,"  I  went  on,  excitedly; 
covering  my  own  chagrin  hi  my  impatience  at  the 
little  district  attorney.  "The  one  your  deputy 
struggled  with  was  short,  rather  than  tall,  and  very 
strong.  That's  Werner!  Can't  you  see  it?  Haven't 
you  noticed  how  stockily  and  powerfully  the  direc- 
tor is  built?" 

"Werner  must  really  have  had  some  clue," 
murmured  Mackay,  dazed. 

It  left  me  wondering  whether  the  stimulation  of 
the  dope  might  not  have  heightened  Werner's 
imagination  and  urged  him  on  in  following  some- 
thing that  our  more  sluggish  minds  had  never  even 
dreamed. 

Meanwhile  I  saw  that  the  doctor  had  arrived  and 
that  Kennedy  had  helped  carry  Werner  to  a  dress- 
ing room  where  first  aid  could  be  given  more  con- 
veniently. Now  Kennedy  hurried  back  into  the 
studio,  glancing  quickly  this  way  and  that,  as 
though  to  catch  signs  of  confusion  or  guilt  upon  the 
faces  of  those  about  us. 

I  colored.    Instead  of  making  explanations  to 

238 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

Mackay,  explanations  which  could  have  waited, 
I  might  have  used  what  faculties  of  observation  I 
possessed  to  aid  Kennedy  while  he  was  giving 
first  consideration  to  the  life  of  a  man.  As  it  was, 
I  didn't  know  what  had  become  of  any  of  the  various 
people  upon  our  list  of  possible  suspects.  As  far  as 
I  was  concerned,  any  or  every  sign  and  clue  to  the 
attack  upon  Werner  might  have  been  removed  or 
destroyed. 

A  sudden  hush  caused  all  of  us  to  turn  toward 
the  door  leading  to  the  dressing  rooms.  It  was  the 
physician.  He  raised  a  hand  for  attention.  His 
voice  was  low,  but  it  carried  to  every  corner  of  the 
studio: 

"Mr.  Werner  is  dead,"  he  announced. 


XXI 

MERLE   SHIRLEY  OVERACTS 

A  PPALLED,  I  wondered  who  it  was  who  had, 
•**  to  cover  up  one  crime,  committed  another? 
Who  had  struck  down  an  innocent  man  to  save  a 
guilty  neck? 

Kennedy  hurried  to  the  side  of  the  physician  and 
I  followed. 

"What  symptoms  did  you  observe?"  asked  Ken- 
nedy, quickly,  seeking  confirmation  of  his  own  first 
impressions. 

"His  mouth  seemed  dry  and  I  should  say  he 
suffered  from  a  quick  prostration.  There  seemed 
to  be  a  complete  loss  of  power  to  swallow  or  speak. 
The  pupils  were  dilated  as  though  from  paralysis 
of  the  eyes.  Both  pharynx  and  larynx  were  af- 
fected. There  was  respiration  paralysis.  It  seemed 
also  as  though  the  cranial  nerves  were  partially 
paralyzed.  It  was  typically  a  condition  due  to 
some  toxic  substance  which  paralyzed  and  depressed 
certain  areas  of  the  body." 

240 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

Kennedy  nodded.  "That  fits  in  with  a  theory  I 
have." 

I  thought  quickly,  then  inquired;  "Could  it  be 
the  snake  venom  again?" 

"No,"  Kennedy  replied,  shaking  his  head; 
"there's  a  difference  in  the  symptoms  and  there  is 
no  mark  on  any  exposed  part  of  the  body,  as  near 
as  I  could  see  in  a  superficial  examination." 

He  turned  to  the  physician.  "Could  you  give 
me  blood  smears  and  some  of  the  stomach  contents, 
at  once?  Twice,  now,  some  one  has  been  stricken 
down  before  the  very  eyes  of  the  actors.  This 
thing  has  gone  too  far  to  trifle  with  or  delay  a 
moment." 

The  doctor  hurried  off  toward  the  dressing  room, 
anxious  to  help  Kennedy,  and  as  excited,  I  thought, 
as  any  of  us.  Next  Kennedy  faced  me. 

"Did  you  watch  the  people  at  all,  Walter?" 

"I — I  was  too  upset  by  the  suddenness  of  it,"  I 
stammered. 

All  seemed  to  have  suspicion  of  some  one  else, 
and  there  was  a  general  constraint,  as  though  even 
the  innocent  feared  to  do  or  say  something  that 
might  look  or  sound  incriminating. 

I  turned.  All  were  now  watching  every  move  we 
made,  though  just  yet  none  ventured  to  follow  us. 
It  was  as  though  they  felt  that  to  do  so  was  like 
crossing  a  dead  line.  I  wondered  which  one  of 

241 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

them  might  be  looking  at  us  with  inward  trepida- 
tion— or  perhaps  satisfaction,  if  there  had  been 
any  chance  to  remove  anything  incriminating. 

Kennedy  strode  over  toward  the  ill-fated  set, 
Mackay  and  I  at  his  heels.  As  we  moved  across 
the  floor  I  noticed  that  everyone  clustered  as  close 
as  he  dared,  afraid,  seemingly,  of  any  action  which 
might  hinder  the  investigation,  yet  unwilling  to 
miss  any  detail  of  Kennedy's  method.  In  contrast 
with  the  clamor  and  racket  of  less  than  a  half  hour 
previously  there  was  now  a  deathlike  stillness 
beneath  the  arched  ground-glass  roof.  The  heat 
was  more  oppressive  than  ever  before.  In  the 
faces  and  expressions  of  the  awed  witnesses  of  death's 
swift  hand  there  was  horror,  and  a  growing  fear. 
No  one  spoke,  except  in  whispers.  When  anybody 
moved  it  was  on  tiptoe,  cautiously.  Millard's 
creation,  "  The  Black  Terror,"  could  have  inspired 
no  dread  greater  than  this. 

Of  the  people  we  wished  to  study,  Phelps  caught 
our  eyes  the  first.  Dejected,  crushed,  utterly 
discouraged,  he  was  slouched  down  in  a  chair  just 
at  the  edge  of  the  supposed  banquet  hall.  I  had 
no  doubt  of  the  nature  of  his  thoughts.  There 
was  probably  only  the  most  perfunctory  sympathy 
for  the  stricken  director.  Without  question  his 
mind  ran  to  dollars.  The  dollar-angle  to  this 
tragedy  was  that  the  death  of  Werner  was  simply 

242 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

another  step  in  the  wrecking  of  Manton  Pictures. 
Kennedy,  I  saw,  hardly  gave  him  a  passing  glance. 

Manton  we  observed  near  the  door.  With  the 
possible  exception  of  Millard  he  seemed  about  the 
least  concerned.  The  two,  scenario  writer  and  pro- 
ducer, had  counterfeited  the  melodrama  of  life  so 
often  in  their  productions  that  even  the  second 
sinister  chapter  hi  this  film  mystery  failed  to  pene- 
trate their  sang-froid.  Inwardly  they  may  have 
felt  as  deeply  as  any  of  the  rest,  but  both  main- 
tained their  outward  composure. 

On  Manton's  shoulders  was  the  responsibility  for 
the  picture.  I  could  see  that  he  was  nervous,  ir- 
ritable; yet,  as  various  employees  approached  for 
their  instructions  in  this  emergency  he  never  lost 
his  grasp  of  affairs.  In  the  vibrant  quiet  of  this 
studio  chamber,  still  under  the  shadow  of  tragedy, 
we  witnessed  as  cold-blooded  a  bit  of  business 
generalship  as  has  ever  come  to  my  knowledge. 
We  overheard,  because  Manton's  voice  carried 
across  to  us  in  the  stillness. 

"Kauf!"  The  name  I  remembered  as  that  of 
the  techincal,  or  art,  director  under  Werner,  respon- 
sible for  the  sets  of  "The  Black  Terror." 

"Yes,  Mr.  Manton!"  Kauf  was  a  slim,  stoop- 
shouldered  man,  gray,  and  a  dynamo  of  energy 
in  a  quiet,  subservient  way.  He  ran  to  Manton's 
side. 

243 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"Remember  once  telling  me  you  wanted  to  be- 
come a  director,  that  you  wanted  to  make  pictures 
forme?" 

"Yes,  sir!" 

"You  are  familiar  with  the  script  of  'The  Black 
Terror/  aren't  you?  You  know  the  people  and 
how  they  work  and  you  have  sets  lined  up.  How 
would  you  like  to  finish  the  direction?" 

"But— but— "  To  the  credit  of  the  little  man 
he  dabbed  at  his  eyes.  I  guess  he  had  been  fond 
of  his  immediate  superior.  "Mr. — Mr.  Werner  is 
d-dead —  '  he  stammered. 

"Of  course!"  Manton's  voice  rose  slightly. 
"If  Werner  wasn't  dead  I  wouldn't  need  another 
director  at  a  moment's  notice.  Some  one  has  to 
complete  'The  Black  Terror.'  We  have  all  these 
people  on  salary,  and  all  the  studio  expense,  and 
the  release  date's  settled,  so  that  we  can't  stop. 
It's  your  chance,  Kauf!  Do  you  want  it?" 

"Y-yes,  sir!" 

"Good!  I'll  double  your  salary,  including  all 
this  week.  Now  can  you  finish  this  banquet  set 
to-night,  while  you  have  the  people — " 

"To-night!"  Kauf's  eyes  went  wide,  then  he 
started  to  flush. 

"Well,  to-morrow,  then!  We  simply  can't  lay 
off  a  day,  Kauf!" 

"All— all  right,  sir!" 

244 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

It  seemed  to  me  that  everyone  in  the  place 
sensed  the  horror  of  this.  Literally,  actually, 
Werner's  body  could  not  be  cold.  Even  the  police, 
the  medical  examiner,  had  not  had  sufficient  time 
to  make  the  trip  out  for  their  investigation.  Yet 
the  director's  successor  had  been  appointed  and 
told  to  hurry  the  production. 

I  glanced  at  Phelps.  He  raised  his  head  slowly, 
his  expression  lifting  at  the  thought  that  production 
was  to  continue  without  interruption.  In  another 
moment,  however,  there  was  a  change  in  his  face. 
His  eyes  sought  Manton  and  hardened.  His 
mouth  tightened.  Hate,  a  deep,  unreasoning  hate, 
settled  into  his  features. 

Kennedy,  pausing  just  long  enough  to  observe 
the  promoter's  appointment  of  Kauf  to  Werner's 
position,  continued  on  toward  the  set.  Now  as  I 
looked  about  I  saw  that  Jack  Gordon  was  missing, 
as  well  as  Marilyn  Loring.  Presumably  they  had 
gone  to  their  dressing  rooms.  All  the  other  actors 
and  actresses  were  waiting,  ill  at  ease,  wondering 
at  the  outcome  of  the  tragedy. 

Suddenly  Kennedy  stopped  and  I  grasped  that 
it  was  the  peculiar  actions  of  Merle  Shirley  which 
had  halted  him. 

The  heavy  man  was  the  only  one  of  the  company 
actually  in  the  fabricated  banquet  hall  itself. 
Clinging  to  him  still  were  the  grim  flowing  robes  of 

245 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

the  Black  Terror.  As  though  he  were  some  old- 
fashioned  tragedian,  he  was  pacing  up  and  down, 
hands  behind  his  back,  head  bowed,  eyes  on  the 
floor.  More,  he  was  mumbling  to  himself .  It  was 
evident,  however,  that  it  was  neither  a  pose  nor 
mental  aberration.  Shirley  was  searching  for  some- 
thing, out  in  the  open,  without  attempt  at  con- 
cealment, swearing  softly  at  his  lack  of  success. 

Kennedy  pushed  forward.  "Did  you  lose  some- 
thing,  Mr.  Shirley?" 

"No!"  The  heavy  man  straightened.  As  he 
drew  himself  up  hi  his  sinister  garb  I  thought  again 
of  the  cheap  actors  of  a  day  when  moving  pictures 
had  yet  to  pre-empt  the  field  of  the  lurid  melodrama. 
It  seemed  to  me  that  Merle  Shirley  was  overacting, 
that  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  be  so  wrought  up 
over  the  slaying  of  a  man  who,  after  all,  was  only 
his  director,  certainly  not  a  close  nor  an  intimate 
relationship. 

"Mr.  Kennedy,"  he  stated,  ponderously,  "there 
has  been  a  second  death,  and  at  the  hand  which 
struck  down  Stella  Lamar  hi  Tarrytown.  Some- 
where in  this  banquet  hall  ulterior  there  is  a  clue 
to  the  murderer.  I  have  kept  a  careful  watch  so 
that  nothing  might  be  disturbed." 

"Do  you  suspect  anyone?"  Kennedy  asked. 

Shirley  glanced  away  and  we  knew  he  was  lying. 
"No,  not  definitely." 

246 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"Who  has  been  in  the  set  since  I  left  with  the 
doctor?" 

"No  one  except  myself,  that  is" — Shirley  wanted 
to  make  it  clear — "no  one  has  had  any  opportunity 
to  hide  or  move  or  take  or  change  a  thing,  because 
I  have  been  right  here  all  the  tune." 

"I  see!  Thanks,  and" — Kennedy  seemed  genu- 
inely apologetic — "if  you  don't  mind — I  would 
prefer  to  make  my  investigation  alone." 

Shirley  turned  on  his  heel  and  made  for  his 
dressing  room. 

Meanwhile  I  had  noticed  a  bit  of  by-play  between 
Enid  Faye  and  Lawrence  Millard,  the  only  others 
of  our  possible  suspects  about.  Enid  first  had 
caught  my  eye  because  she  seemed  to  be  pleading 
with  the  writer,  trying  to  hold  him.  I  gathered 
from  the  look  of  disgust  on  Millard's  face  that  he 
wanted  to  get  Shirley  out  of  the  set  before  Kennedy 
should  observe  the  heavy  man's  odd  reaction  to  the 
tragedy.  While  I  had  never  seen  Millard  and 
Shirley  together,  so  as  to  establish  in  mind  the 
state  of  their  feelings  toward  each  other,  this  would 
seem  to  indicate  that  they  were  friendly.  Certainly 
Shirley  was  making  a  fool  of  himself.  Enid  acted, 
I  guessed,  so  as  to  prevent  Millard's  interference, 
probably  with  the  idea  that  Millard  hi  some  fashion 
might  bring  suspicion  upon  himself.  It  struck  me 
that  Enid  had  a  wholesome  respect  for  Kennedy. 

247 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

At  any  rate,  Millard  watched  the  little  scene  be- 
tween Kennedy  and  Shirley  with  a  quizzical  expres- 
sion. As  Shirley  left  he  shrugged  his  shoulders,  then 
he  gave  Enid's  cheeks  a  playful  pinch  each  and 
started  out  after  the  heavy  man  in  leisurely  fashion. 

Just  about  the  same  moment  Kennedy  called  me 
to  his  side. 

"Walter,"  he  pleaded,  in  a  low  voice,  "will  you 
hurry  out  to  the  dressing  room  where  the  doctor 
and  I  took  Werner  and  get  the  blood  smears  and 
sample  of  the  stomach  contents?  I  don't  want  to 
leave  this,  because  we  must  work  fast  and  get  all 
the  data  we  need  before  the  police  arrive.  With 
perhaps  a  hundred  people  to  question  they'll  be 
apt  to  make  a  fine  mess  of  everything.  This  is  an 
outlying  precinct  where  we  '11  draw  the  amateurs, 
you  know." 

I  saw  that  Mackay  was  helping  him  and  so  I 
left  cheerfully,  making  my  way  as  fast  as  I  could 
toward  the  door  through  which  both  Shirley  and 
Millard  had  passed. 

In  the  hallway  of  the  building  devoted  to  dressing 
rooms  I  found  that  I  did  not  know  which  one  con- 
tained Werner's  body.  This  corridor  was  familiar. 
Here  Kennedy  and  I  had  waited  for  Marilyn  Lor- 
ing  and  had  witnessed  the  scene  between  Shirley 
and  herself.  Now  I  did  not  even  remember  the 
location  of  her  room. 

248 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

At  last,  on  a  chance,  I  tried  a  door  softly.  From 
within  came  whispered  voices  of  deep  intensity. 
About  to  close  it  quickly,  I  realized  suddenly  that 
I  recognized  the  speakers  hi  spite  of  the  whispers. 
It  was  Marilyn  and  Shirley.  They  were  together. 
Now  I  recollected  the  figured  chintz  which  covered 
the  wall  and  was  to  be  seen  through  the  crack  made 
by  the  open  door.  It  was  her  room.  They  had 
not  heard  my  hand  on  the  knob,  nor  the  catch,  did 
not  know  that  anyone  could  eavesdrop. 

"You  see!"  Her  tones  were  the  more  vibrant. 
"You  waited!" 

"I  had  to!" 

"No!    I  advised  you  to  act  at  once." 

"I  couldn't!    I  can't  even  now!" 

"All  right!"  Her  tone  became  bitter.  "Go 
ahead,  your  own  way.  But  you  must  count  the 
cost.  You  may  lose  me  again,  Merle  Shirley." 

"How  do  you  mean?" 

Her  answer,  hi  the  faintest  of  whispers,  staggered 
me. 

"If  you  have  the  blood  of  another  man  on  your 
hands  I'm  through." 

17 


xxn 

THE  STEM 

HTHOUGH  my  hands  trembled  so  that  I  could 
».  hardly  control  them,  I  managed  to  close  the 
door  softly  and  to  back  away  down  the  hall  without 
being  discovered.  My  head  was  spinning  and  I 
was  dizzy.  With  my  own  ears  I  had  heard  Marilyn 
Loring  virtually  betray  the  guilt  of  the  man  she 
loved  and  whom  therefore  she  had  tried  to  shield. 
"If  you  have  the  blood  of  another  man  on  your 
hands — "  What  more  could  Kennedy  want? 

I  started  to  run  toward  the  studio.  Then  recol- 
lection of  my  errand  stopped  me.  Kennedy  wished 
the  blood  smears  and  stomach  contents  and  was 
anxious  to  get  them  before  the  arrival  of  the 
police.  At  first  I  thought  that  all  such  evidence 
would  be  unnecessary  now,  after  the  dialogue  I  had 
overheard,  but  it  struck  me  as  an  afterthought  that 
it  might  be  necessary  still  to  prove  Shirley's  guilt 
to  the  satisfaction  of  a  court  and  jury,  and  so  I 
rushed  to  the  next  dressing  room  and  to  another, 

250 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

until  I  located  the  doctor  and  the  body  of  the  dead 
man. 

With  the  little  package  for  Kennedy  safely  in  my 
pocket  I  hurried  out  again  into  the  sweltering  heat 
beneath  the  glass  of  the  big  studio,  and  to  the  side 
of  Kennedy  and  Mackay  in  the  banquet-hall  set. 

"You  have  a  sample  of  each  article  of  food  now?" 
he  was  asking  the  district  attorney.  "You  are 
sure  you  have  missed  nothing?" 

"As  far  as  possible  I  took  my  samples  from  the 

table    where    Werner    sat,"    Mackay    explained. 

'When  the  prop,  boy  gets  here  with  an  empty 

bottle  and  cork  I'll  have  a  sample  of  the  wine.    I 

think  it's  the  wine,"  he  added. 

Kennedy  turned  to  me.     "You've  got — " 

"In  my  pocket!"  I  interrupted.  Then,  rather 
breathlessly,  I  repeated  the  conversation  I  had 
overheard. 

"Good  Lord!"  Mackay  flushed.  "There  it  is! 
Shirley's  the  man,  and  I'll  take  him  now,  quick, 
without  waiting  for  a  warrant." 

"See!"  I  ejaculated,  to  Kennedy.  "He  killed 
Stella  because  she  made  a  fool  of  him  and  then, 
when  Werner  discovered  that  and  followed  him 
to  Tarrytown  the  other  night,  it  probably  put 
him  in  a  panic  of  fear,  and  so,  to  keep  Werner  from 
talking- 

"Easy,  Walter!    Not  so  fast!    What  you  over- 

251 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

heard  is  insufficient  ground  for  Shirley's  convic- 
tion, unless  you  could  make  him  confess,  and  I 
doubt  you  could  make  him  do  that." 

"Why?"    This  was  Mackay. 

"Because  I  don't  think  he's  guilty.  At  least" — 
Kennedy,  as  always,  was  cautious  in  his  statements, 
"not  so  far  as  anything  we  now  know  would 
indicate." 

"But  his  anger  at  Stella,"  I  protested,  "and 
Marilyn's  remark — " 

"Miss  Lamar's  death  was  the  result  of  a  cool, 
unfeeling  plan,  not  pique  or  anger.  The  same 
cruel,  careful  brain  executed  this  second  crime." 

Mackay,  I  saw,  was  three-quarters  convinced  by 
Kennedy.  "How  do  you  account  for  the  dialogue 
Jameson  overheard?"  he  asked. 

"Miss  Loring  told  us  that  Shirley  suspected  some 
one  and  was  watching,  and  would  not  tell  her  or 
anyone  else  who  it  was.  It  seems  most  likely  to 
me  that  it  is  the  truth,  Mackay.  In  that  case  her 
remark  means  that  she  believes  his  silence  in  a  way 
is  responsible  for  Werner's  death." 

"Oh!  If  Shirley  had  taken  you  into  his  con- 
fidence, for  instance — ?" 

"I  might  possibly  have  succeeded  in  gaining 
sufficient  evidence  for  an  arrest,  thus  averting  this 
tragedy.  But  it  is  only  a  theory  of  mine." 

I  scowled.    It  seemed  to  me  that  Kennedy  was 

252 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

minimizing  things  in  a  way  unusual  for  him.  I 
wondered  if  he  really  thought  the  heavy  man 
innocent. 

"It's  still  my  belief  that  Shirley  is  guilty,"  I 
asserted. 

A  sound  of  confusion  from  the  courtyard  beneath 
the  heavy  studio  windows  caught  Kennedy's  ear 
and  ended  the  colloquy.  From  some  of  those  near 
enough  to  look  out  we  received  the  explanation. 
The  police  had  arrived,  fully  three-quarters  of  an 
hour  after  Werner's  death. 

"I'll  get  the  little  bottle  of  wine,  sure,"  Mackay 
murmured,  picking  up  the  food  samples  he  had 
wrapped  and  crowding  the  bulky  package  into  a 
pocket. 

"I  don't  see  why  that  would  have  been  any 
easier  to  poison  than  the  food,"  was  my  objection. 
"Everyone  was  looking." 

"Very  simple.  The  food  was  brought  hi  quite 
late.  Besides,  it  was  dished  out  by  the  caterer 
before  the  eyes  of  forty  or  fifty  people  or  more  and 
there  was  no  telling  which  plate  would  go  to 
Werner's  place.  The  drinks  were  poured  last  of 
all.  I  remember  seeing  the  bubbles  rise  and  won- 
dering whether  they  would  register  at  the  distance." 

Kennedy  did  not  look  at  me.  "Did  it  ever  occur 
to  you,"  he  went  on,  casually,  "that  the  glasses 
were  all  set  out  empty  at  the  various  places  long 

253 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

before,  and  that  there  might  easily  have  been  a  few 
drops  of  something,  if  it  were  colorless,  placed  in 
the  bottom  of  Werner's  glass,  with  scarcely  a 
chance  of  its  being  discovered,  especially  by  a 
man  who  had  so  much  on  his  mind  at  the  time  as 
Werner  had?  He  must  have  indicated  where  he 
would  sit  when  he  arranged  the  camera  stands  and 
the  location  of  the  tables." 

I  had  not  thought  of  that. 

Kennedy  frowned.  "If  only  I  could  have  lo- 
cated more  of  that  broken  glass!"  As  he  faced  me 
I  could  read  his  disappointment.  "Walter,  I've 
made  a  most  careful  search  of  his  chair  and  the 
table  and  everything  about  the  space  where  he 
dropped.  The  poison  must  have  been  in  the  wine, 
but  there's  not  a  tiny  sliver  of  that  glass  left,  nothing 
but  a  thousand  bits  ground  into  the  canvas,  too 
small  to  hold  even  a  drop  of  the  liquid.  Just 
think,  a  dried  stain  of  the  wine,  no  matter  how 
tiny,  might  have  served  me  in  a  chemical  analysis." 

Very  suddenly  there  was  a  low  exclamation  from 
Mackay.  "Look!  Quick!  Some  one  must  have 
kicked  it  way  over  here!" 

Fully  twenty  feet  from  Werner's  place  in  the  glare 
of  the  lights  was  the  hollow  stem  of  a  champagne 
glass,  its  base  intact  save  for  a  narrow  segment. 
In  the  stem  still  were  a  couple  of  drops  of  the  wine, 
as  if  in  a  bulb  or  tube. 

254 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

"Can  it  be  the  director's  glass?"  Mackay  asked, 
handing  it  to  Kennedy. 

Kennedy  slipped  it  into  his  pocket,  fussing  with 
his  handkerchief  so  that  the  precious  contents  would 
not  drip  out.  "I  think  so.  I  doubt  whether  any 
other  glass  was  broken.  Verify  it  quickly." 

The  police  were  entering  now  with  Manton. 
Following  them  was  the  physician.  Mackay  and  I 
ascertained  readily  that  no  other  glass  had  been 
shattered,  while  Kennedy  searched  the  floor  for 
possible  signs  that  the  stem  was  part  of  a  glass 
broken  where  we  had  found  it.  Unquestionably  we 
had  a  sample  of  the  actual  wine  quaffed  by  the 
unfortunate  Werner.  Elated  we  strolled  to  a 
corner  so  as  to  give  the  police  full  charge. 

"They  '11  waste  time  questioning  everyone," 
Kennedy  remarked.  "I  have  the  real  evidence." 
He  tapped  his  pocket. 

The  few  moments  that  he  had  had  to  himself 
had  been  ample  for  him  to  obtain  such  evidence  as 
was  destroyed  in  so  many  cases  by  the  time  he 
was  called  upon  the  scene. 

A  point  occurred  to  me.  "You  don't  think 
the  poison  was  planted  later  during  the  excite- 
ment?" 

"Hardly!  Our  criminal  is  too  clever  to  take  a 
long  chance.  In  such  a  case  we  would  know 
it  was  some  one  near  Werner  and  also  there  would 

255 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

be  too  many  people  watching.  Foolhardiness  is 
not  boldness." 

I  took  to  observing  the  methods  of  the  police, 
which  were  highly  efficient,  but  only  in  the  minute- 
ness of  the  examination  of  witnesses  and  in  the 
care  with  which  they  recorded  names  and  facts  and 
made  sure  that  no  one  had  slipped  away  to  avoid  the 
notoriety. 

The  actors  and  actresses  who  had  stood  rather  in 
awe  of  Kennedy,  both  here  and  in  Kennedy's 
investigation  at  Tarrytown,  developed  nimble 
tongues  in  their  answers  to  the  city  detectives. 
The  result  was  a  perfect  maze  of  conflicting  ver- 
sions of  Werner's  cry  and  fall.  In  fact,  one 
scene  shifter  insisted  that  Shirley,  as  the  Black 
Terror,  had  reached  Werner's  side  and  had  struck 
him  before  the  cry,  while  an  extra  girl  with  a  faint 
lisp  described  with  sobering  accuracy  the  flight  of 
a  mysterious  missile  through  the  air.  I  realized 
then  why  Kennedy  had  made  no  effort  to  question 
them.  Under  the  excitement  of  the  scene,  the 
glamour  of  the  lights,  the  sense  of  illusion,  and  the 
stifling  heat,  it  would  have  been  strange  for  any 
of  the  people  to  have  retained  correct  impressions 
of  the  event. 

The  police  sergeant  knew  Kennedy  by  repu- 
tation and  approached  him  after  a  visit  to  the 
dead  man's  body  with  the  doctor.  His  glance, 

256 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

including  Mackay  and  myself,  was  frankly  tri- 
umphant. 

"Well,"  he  exclaimed,  "I  don't  suppose  it  oc- 
curred to  any  of  you  scientific  guys  to  search  the 
fellow,  now  did  it?" 

Kennedy  smiled,  in  good  humor.  "Searching  a 
man  isn't  always  the  scientific  method.  You  won't 
find  the  word  'frisk'  hi  any  scientific  dictionary." 

"No? "  The  police  officer's  eyes  twinkled.  There 
was  enough  of  the  Irish  in  him  to  enjoy  an  en- 
counter of  this  kind.  "Maybe  not,  but  you 
might  find  things  in  a  chap's  pocket  which  is 
better."  With  a  flourish  he  produced  a  hypo- 
dermic syringe,  the  duplicate  of  the  one  I  had  ap- 
propriated, and  a  tiny  bottle.  "The  man's  a 
dope,"  he  added. 

"I  knew  that,"  replied  Kennedy.  "I  examined 
his  arm,  where  he  usually  took  his  shots,  and 
found  no  fresh  mark  of  the  needle." 

"That  doesn't  prove  anything.  Wait  until  the 
medical  examiner  gets  here.  He'll  find  the  fellow's 
heart  all  shot  full  of  hop,  or  something.  I  guess  it 
isn't  so  complicated,  after  all.  He  was  a  hop 
fiend,  all  right." 

"Still,  there's  nothing  to  indicate  that  he  was  a 
suicide." 

"Not  suicide;  accident — overdose,"  was  the 
sergeant's  reply. 

257 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"How  could  he  have  died  from  an  over- 
dose of  the  drug,  when  he  hasn't  taken  any 
recently?" 

"Well" — unabashed — "then  he  croaked  because 
he  hadn't  had  a  shot — the  same  thing.  Heart 
failure,  either  way.  Excited,  and  all,  you  know, 
making  the  scene.  Maybe  he  forgot  to  use  the 
needle  at  that." 

"Perhaps  you're  right."  Kennedy  shrugged 
calmly.  What  was  the  use  of  disputing  the  matter? 

I  started  to  protest  against  the  detective's  hy- 
pothesis. The  idea  of  any  drug  addict  ever  for- 
getting to  take  his  stimulant  was  too  preposterous. 
But  Kennedy  checked  me.  All  were  now  keenly 
listening  to  the  argument.  Better,  perhaps,  to 
let  some  one  think  that  nothing  was  suspected  than 
to  disclose  the  cards  in  Craig's  hand.  I  saw  that 
he  wished  to  get  away  and  had  not  spoken  seriously. 
He  turned  to  Mackay. 

"Walter  and  I  will  have  to  hurry  to  the  labora- 
tory. Would  you  like  to  come  along?" 

"You  bet  I  would!"  The  district  attorney 
showed  his  delight.  "I  was  just  going  to  ask  if  I 
might  do  so.  There's  nothing  for  me  in  Tarrytown 
to-day  and  this  is  out  of  my  jurisdiction." 

As  we  turned  away  the  police  sergeant  saw  us 
and  called  across  the  floor,  not  quite  concealing  a 
touch  of  professional  jealousy. 

258 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"The  three  of  you  were  here  at  the  time,  weren't 
you?" 

"No,"  Kennedy  answered.  "Mr.  Jameson  and 
myself." 

"Well,  you  two,  then!  You're  witnesses  and  I'll 
ask  you  to  hold  yourself  in  readiness  to  appear  at 
the  hearing." 

I  thought  that  the  policeman  was  particularly 
delighted  at  his  position  to  issue  orders  to  Kennedy, 
and  I  was  angered.  Again  Craig  held  me  in  check. 

"We'll  be  glad  to  tell  anything  we  know,"  he 
replied,  then  added  a  little  fling,  a  bit  of  sarcasm 
which  almost  went  over  the  other's  head.  "That 
is,"  he  amended,  "as  eye-witnesses!" 


XXIII 

BOTULIN  TOXIN 

MACKAY  drove  us  to  the  laboratory  in  his  little 
car  and  it  was  dark  and  we  were  dinnerless 
when  we  arrived.  Knowing  Kennedy's  habits,  I 
sent  out  for  sandwiches  and  started  in  to  make 
strong  coffee  upon  an  electric  percolator.  The 
aroma  tingled  in  my  nostrils,  reminding  me  that  I 
was  genuinely  hungry.  The  district  attorney,  too, 
seemed  more  or  less  similarly  disposed. 

As  for  Kennedy,  he  was  interested  in  nothing  but 
the  problem  before  him.  He  had  been  strangely 
quiet  on  the  way,  growing  more  and  more  impatient 
and  nervous,  as  though  the  element  of  time  had 
entered  into  the  case,  as  though  haste  were  sud- 
denly imperative.  Once  the  lights  were  on  in  the 
laboratory  he  hurried  about  his  various  prepara- 
tions The  food  samples  he  laid  out,  but  he  gave 
them  no  attention.  The  blood  smears  and  stomach 
contents  he  put  aside  for  future  reference.  His 

260 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

attack  was  upon  the  drop  or  two  of  liquid  adhering 
to  the  stem  of  the  broken  champagne  glass. 

The  entire  chemical  procedure  seemed  to  be  in- 
comprehensible to  Mackay  and  he  was  fascinated, 
so  that  he  had  considerable  trouble  at  times 
keeping  out  of  the  way  of  Kennedy's  elbow. 
Kennedy  first  washed  the  stem  out  carefully  with 
a  few  drops  of  distilled  water,  then  he  studied 
the  resulting  solution.  One  after  another  he  tried 
the  things  that  occurred  to  him,  making  tests 
wholly  unproductive  of  results.  Slowly  the  labo- 
ratory table  became  littered  completely  with 
chemicals  and  apparatus  of  all  sorts,  a  veritable 
arsenal  of  glass. 

The  sandwiches  arrived,  but  Kennedy  refused  to 
drop  his  investigation  for  a  moment.  I  did  succeed 
in  making  him  take  a  cup  of  strong  coffee,  and 
that  was  all.  Over  in  a  corner  Mackay  and  I  did 
full  justice  to  the  food,  finishing  the  hot  and  wel- 
come coffee  and  then  refilling  the  percolator  and 
starting  it  on  the  making  of  a  second  brew.  The 
hours  lengthened,  and  when  Mackay  grew  tired  of 
watching  with  intense  admiration  he  joined  me  in 
the  patient  consumption  of  innumerable  cigarettes. 

Kennedy  was  filled  with  the  joy  of  discovery.  I 
noticed  that  he  did  not  stop  even  for  the  solace  of 
tobacco.  It  seemed  to  me  that  at  times  his  nos- 
trils dilated  exactly  like  those  of  a  hound  on  the 

261 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

scent.  Finally  he  held  up  a  test  tube  and  turned 
to  us. 

"What  is  it?"  I  asked.  "Some  other  poison  as 
rare  and  little  known  as  the  snake  venom?  " 

"No — something  much  more  curious.  In  the 
stem  of  the  glass  I  find  the  toxin  of  the  Bacillus 
botulinus." 

"Germs?"    Mackay  inquired. 

Kennedy  shook  his  head.  "Not  germs,  but  the 
pure  toxin,  the  poison  secreted  by  this  bacillus." 

"What  does  it  do?"  was  my  question. 

"Well,"  thoughtfully,  "botulism  may  be  ranked 
easily  among  the  most  serious  diseases  known  to 
medical  science.  It  is  hard  to  understand  why  it  is 
not  a  great  deal  more  common.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  dangerous  kinds  of  food  poisoning." 

"Then  the  apple  juice  they  used  for  the  wine  was 
bad,  spoiled?" 

"No,  not  that.  Werner  was  the  only  one 
stricken.  Somebody  put  the  pure  toxin  in  his 
glass.  It  was,  as  I  suspected,  deliberate  murder, 
as  in  the  case  of  Miss  Lamar.  Bacillus  botulinus 
produces  a  toxin  that  is  extremely  virulent. 
Hardly  more  than  a  ten-thousandth  of  a  cubic  cen- 
timeter would  kill  a  guinea  pig.  This  was  botulin 
itself,  the  pure  toxin,  an  alkaloid  just  like  that 
which  is  formed  in  meat  and  other  food  products 
in  cases  of  botulism.  The  idea  might  also  have 

262 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

been  to  make  the  death  seem  natural — due  solely  to 
bad  food." 

"Do  you  suppose  it  was  used  because  it  was 
quick  and  was  colorless,  so  as  not  to  be  noticed  in 
the  glass?"  I  hazarded. 

Kennedy  paced  up  and  down  the  laboratory 
several  times  hi  thought.  "To  me,  Walter,  this  is 
another  indication  of  the  satanic  cleverness  of  the 
unknown  criminal  in  the  case.  First  Miss  Lamar 
is  to  be  killed.  For  that  purpose  something  was 
sought,  probably,  which  could  not  be  traced  easily 
to  the  perpetrator.  In  snake  venom  an  agent 
was  employed  which  may  be  said  to  be  almost  ideal 
for  the  grim  business  of  murder.  It  is  extremely 
difficult  to  identify  hi  its  results,  it  is  compara- 
tively unknown,  yet  it  is  swift  in  action  and  to  be 
obtained  with  fair  ease. 

"Differing  from  most  poisons,  it  may  be  inflicted 
through  a  prick  so  slight  as  to  be  almost  unnoticed 
by  the  victim.  The  scheme  of  fixing  the  needle  in 
the  curtain  was  so  simple  and  yet  so  effective  that 
the  guilty  person  need  never  have  feared  its  dis- 
covery under  ordinary  circumstances,  or  its  asso- 
ciation with  the  girl's  death,  if  some  one  stumbled 
upon  it  accidentally.  The  idea  of  returning  for 
the  death-dealing  point  was  only  one  of  the  many 
details  of  a  precautionary  measure  upon  which  we 
have  stumbled.  Had  I  found  it  the  next  morning 

263 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

I  would  have  been  unable,  in  all  probability,  to 
identify  it  as  belonging  to  or  as  obtained  by  any  of 
our  suspects. 

"You  must  realize,  Walter,  that  with  all  the 
scientific  aids  I  have  been  able  to  bring  to  bear 
we  possess  almost  no  direct  evidence.  There  are 
no  fingerprints,  no  cigarette  stubs,  no  array  of 
personal,  intimate  clues  of  any  sort  to  this  criminal. 
These  are  the  threads  which  lead  the  detective  to 
his  quany  in  fiction  and  on  the  stage.  Here  we 
lack  even  the  faintest  description  of  the  man, 
or  woman  if  that  is  her  sex.  It  is  murder  from  a 
distance,  planned  with  almost  meticulous  care, 
executed  coolly  and  without  feeling  or  scruple. 

"After  the  death  of  Miss  Lamar  I  was  not  so 
sure  but  that  the  selection  of  the  snake  venom  was 
simply  the  inspiration  of  a  perverted  brain,  the 
evolution  of  the  detailed  method  of  killing  her — an 
outgrowth  of  some  one's  familiarity  with  studio 
life  in  general,  with  the  script  of  'The  Black 
Terror'  in  particular.  Now  I  realize  that  we  are 
face  to  face  with  the  studied  handiwork  of  a  skilled 
criminal.  These  two  deaths  may  be  hfe — or  her — 
first  departure  into  the  realm  of  crime.  But 
potentially  we  have  a  super-villain. 

"I  make  that  statement  because  of  the  manner 
of  Werner's  demise.  It  is  evident  that  the  director 
stumbled  on  a  clue  to  the  murderer.  If  my  first 

264 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

hypothesis  had  been  correct,  if  the  use  of  snake 
venom  and  the  unlucky  thirteenth  scene  had  been 
largely  a  matter  of  blind  chance  in  the  selection  of 
poison  and  method,  then  we  might  have  expected 
Werner  to  be  struck  down  in  some  dark  street,  or 
perhaps  decoyed  to  his  death — at  the  best,  inocu- 
lated with  the  same  crotalin  which  had  killed 
Miss  Lamar. 

"But  let  us  analyze  the  method  used  hi  slaying 
the  director.  If  he  had  been  blackjacked  there 
would  be  the  clue  of  the  weapon,  always  likely  to 
turn  up,  the  chance  of  witnesses,  and  also  the  likeli- 
hood in  an  extreme  case  that  Werner  might  not  die 
at  once,  but  might  talk  and  give  a  description  of  his 
assailant,  or  even  survive.  Much  the  same  objec- 
tions— from  the  criminal's  standpoint — obtain  in 
nearly  all  the  accepted  modes  of  killing  a  man. 
Even  the  use  of  venom  a  second  time  possesses  the 
disadvantage  of  a  certain  alertness  against  the  very 
thing  on  the  part  of  the  victim.  Werner  was  a 
dope  fiend,  fully  aware  of  the  potency  of  a  tiny 
skin  puncture.  I'll  wager  he  was  on  constant 
guard  against  any  sort  of  scratch. 

"On  the  other  hand,  the  few  drops  of  toxin  in  the 
glass  possessed  every  advantage  from  the  unknown's 
standpoint.  It  was  invisible,  and  as  sure  in  its 
action  as  the  venom.  Also  it  was  as  rare  and  as 
difficult  to  trace.  For,  remember  this.  Botulism 

18  265 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

is  food  poisoning.  If  I  had  not  found  the  stem  of 
that  glass  it  would  be  absolutely  impossible  to 
show  that  Werner  died  from  anything  on  earth 
but  bad  food.  That  is  why  I  do  not  even  take  time 
to  analyze  the  stomach  contents.  That  is  why  I  say 
we  are  confronted  by  an  archscoundrel  of  highest 
intelligence  and  downright  cleverness.  More" — 
Kennedy  paused  for  emphasis — "I  realize  now  the 
presence  of  a  grim,  invisible  menace.  It  has  just 
now  been  driven  home  to  me.  The  botulin,  with 
its  deadly  paralyzing  power,  sealed  Werner's 
tongue  even  while  he  tried  to  tell  me  what  he 
knew." 

Mackay  was  tremendously  impressed  by  Ken- 
nedy's explanation.  "Does  this  mean,"  he  asked, 
"that  the  guilty  man  or  woman  is  some  outsider? 
Those  we  have  figured  as  possible  suspects  would 
hardly  have  this  detailed  knowledge  of  poisons." 

"There  are  two  possibilities,"  Kennedy  answered. 
"The  real  person  behind  the  two  murders  may  have 
employed  some  one  else  to  carry  out  the  actual 
killing,  a  hypothesis  I  do  not  take  seriously,  or"- 
again  he  paused — "this  may  be  a  case  of  some  one 
with  intelligence  starting  out  upon  his  career  of 
crime  intelligently  by  reading  up  on  his  subject. 
It  is  as  simple  to  learn  how  to  use  crotalin  or  botulin 
toxin  or  any  number  of  hundreds  of  deadly  sub- 
stances as  it  is  to  obtain  the  majority  of  them.  In 

266 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

fact,  if  people  generally  understood  the  ease  with 
which  whole  communities  could  be  wiped  out,  and 
grasped  that  it  could  be  done  so  as  to  leave  virtually 
no  clue  to  the  author  of  the  horror,  they  might  not 
sleep  as  soundly  at  night  as  they  do.  The  saving 
grace  is  that  the  average  criminal  is  often  clever, 
but  almost  never  truly  scientific.  Unfortunately,  we 
have  to  combat  one  who  possesses  the  latter  quality 
to  a  high  degree." 

"What  is  the  invisible  menace  of  which  you 
spoke,  Craig?"  I  inquired. 

"The  possibility  of  another  murder  before  we 
can  apprehend  the  guilty  person  or  gain  the  evi- 
dence we  need." 

1 '  Good  heavens ! "    I  imagine  I  blanched.     ' '  You 


mean — " 


"Werner  was  struck  down,  apparently,  for  no 
reason  but  that  he  had  guessed  the  identity  of  the 
villain.  There  is  a  second  man  in  the  company 
who  has  certain  suspicions  and  is  acting  upon  them. 
If  he  is  on  the  right  trail,  by  any  chance — "  Ken- 
nedy shrugged  his  shoulders  soberly. 

"Shirley?" 

"Exactly!  And  there  is  still  another  possibility." 

"What  is  that?" 

"Here  in  this  laboratory  I  have  blood  spots  made 
on  the  portieres  at  the  house  of  Phelps  by  the  man 
who  removed  the  needle,  probably  the  unknown 

267 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

himself,  possibly  his — or  her — agent.  In  any  case 
it  is  a  clue  and — the  only  direct  and  infallible  clue  in 
existence  to  the  criminal!  Also  I  have  the  evidence 
of  the  snake  venom  and  of  the  botulin  toxin  here. 
Sooner  or  later  the  person  who  killed  Werner 
because  he  suspected  things  will  wake  up  to  the 
fact  that  we  possess  tangible  proof  against  him." 

I  grew  pale.  "You  mean,  then,  that  you  may  be 
attacked  yourself?  That  even  I— 

Kennedy  smiled,  unafraid.  But  from  the  expres- 
sion in  his  eyes  I  knew  that  he  took  the  thought  of 
our  possible  danger  very  seriously. 


XXIV 

THE   INVISIBLE   MENACE 

MACKAY  and  I  exchanged  glances.  Kennedy 
busied  himself  putting  away  some  of  the  more 
important  bits  of  evidence  in  the  case,  placing  the 
tiny  tubes  of  solution,  the  blood  smears,  and 
other  items  together  in  a  cabinet  at  the  farther 
corner  of  the  laboratory.  The  vast  bulk  of  his 
paraphernalia,  the  array  of  glass  and  chemicals  and 
instruments,  he  left  on  the  table  for  the  morning. 
Then  he  faced  us  again,  with  a  smile. 

"Suppose  you  start  up  the  percolator  once  more, 
Walter!"  He  took  a  cigar  and  lighted  it  from  the 
match  I  struck.  "I  believe  I've  earned  another 
cup  of  coffee,"  he  added. 

Mackay  had  been  fidgeting  considerably  since 
Kennedy's  explanation  of  the  possible  danger  to 
Shirley,  as  well  as  to  ourselves  or  even  to  others. 

"Isn't  there  something  we  can  do,  Kennedy?" 
he  exclaimed,  suddenly.  "Is  it  necessary  to  sit 
back  and  wait  for  this  unknown  to  strike  again?" 

260 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

"Ordinarily,"  Kennedy  replied,  "on  a  case  like 
this  it  has  been  my  custom  to  permit  the  guilty 
parties  to  betray  themselves,  as  they  will  do  in- 
evitably— especially  when  I  call  to  my  aid  the 
recent  discoveries  of  science  for  the  detection  and 
measurement  of  fine  and  almost  imperceptible 
shades  of  emotion.  But  now  that  I  realize  the 
presence  of  this  menace  I  shall  become  a  detective 
of  action;  in  fact,  I  shall  not  stop  at  any  course  to 
hurry  matters.  The  very  first  thing  in  the  morning 
I  shall  go  to  the  studio  and  I  want  you  and  Jameson 
along.  I" — his  eyes  twinkled;  it  was  the  excite- 
ment at  the  prospect — "I  may  need  considerable 
help  in  getting  the  evidence  I  wish." 

"Which  is — ?"  It  was  I  who  interposed  the 
question. 

Kennedy  blew  a  cloud  of  smoke.  "There  are 
three  ways  of  tracing  down  a  crime,  aside  from  the 
police  method  of  stool  pigeons  to  betray  the  crimi- 
nals and  the  detective  bureau  method  of  cross- 
examination  under  pressure,  popularly  known  as 
the  third  degree." 

"What  are  they?"  Mackay  asked,  unaware  that 
Kennedy  needed  little  prompting  once  he  felt  in- 
clined to  talk  out  some  matter  puzzling  him 

"One  is  the  process  of  reasoning  from  the  possi- 
ble suspects  to  the  act  itself — in  other  words,  putting 
the  emphasis  on  the  motive.  A  second  is  the  re- 

270 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

verse  of  the  first,  involving  a  study  of  the  crime  for 
clues  and  making  deductions  from  the  inevitable 
earmarks  of  the  person  for  the  purpose  of  discover- 
ing his  identity.  The  third  method,  except  for 
some  investigations  across  the  water,  is  distinctly 
my  own,  the  scientific. 

"In  all  sciences,"  Kennedy  went  on,  warming  to 
his  subject,  "progress  is  made  by  a  careful  tabula- 
tion of  proved  facts.  The  scientific  method  is  the 
method  of  exact  knowledge.  Thus,  in  crime,  those 
things  are  of  value  to  us  which  by  an  infinite  series 
of  empiric  observations  have  been  established  and 
have  become  incontrovertible.  The  familiar  ex- 
ample, of  course,  is  fingerprints.  Nearly  everyone 
knows  that  no  two  men  have  the  same  markings; 
that  the  same  man  displays  a  pattern  which  is 
unchanging  from  birth  to  the  grave. 

"No  less  certain  is  the  fact  that  human  blood 
differs  from  the  blood  of  animals,  that  in  faint  varia- 
tions the  blood  of  no  two  people  is  alike,  that  the 
blood  of  any  living  thing,  man  or  beast,  is  affected 
by  various  things — an  infinite  number  almost — 
most  of  which  are  positively  known  to  modern 
medical  investigators. 

"In  this  case  my  principal  scientific  clue  is  the 
blood  left  upon  the  portiere  by  the  man  who  took 
the  needle  the  night  following  the  murder.  Next 
in  importance  is  the  fact,  demonstrated  by  me,  that 

271 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

some  one  at  the  studio  wiped  a  hypodermic  on  a 
towel  after  inoculating  hjmself  with  antivenin. 
Of  course  I  am  presuming  that  this  latter  man  inocu- 
lated himself  and  not  some  one  else,  because  it  is 
obvious.  If  necessary  I  can  prove  it  later,  how- 
ever, by  analyzing  the  trace  of  blood.  That  is 
not  the  point.  The  point  is  that  whoever  removed 
the  needle  pricked  himself  and  yet  did  not  die  of 
the  venom — unless  it  was  a  person  not  under  our 
observation,  an  unlikely  premise.  Therefore,  be- 
cause of  this  last  fact,  and  because  again  it  is 
obvious,  I  expect  to  find  that  the  same  individual 
inoculated  himself  with  antivenin  and  removed  the 
needle  from  the  portiere;  and  I  expect  to  prove  it 
beyond  possibility  of  doubt  by  an  analysis  of  his 
blood.  A  sample  of  the  blood  from  this  person 
will  be  identical  with  the  spot  on  the  portiere,  and 
— much  the  easier  test — will  contain  traces  of  the 
antitoxin. 

"With  that  much  accomplished,  a  little  of  the, 
well — third  degree,  will  bring  about  a  confession. 
It  is  circumstantial  evidence  of  the  strongest  sort. 
Not  only  does  a  man  take  precautions  against  a 
given  poison,  but  he  is  proved  to  be  the  one  who 
removed  the  needle  actually  responsible  for  Miss 
Lamar's  death. 

"My  handicap,  however,  is  that  I  have  no  justi- 
fiable excuse  for  taking  a  sample  of  blood  from  each 

272 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

of  the  people  we  suspect,  or  feel  we  might  suspect. 
For  that  reason  I  was  waiting  until  one  of  the 
other  detective  methods  should  narrow  the  field 
of  suspicion.  Now  that  there  is  the  menace  of 
another  attempt  to  take  a  life  I  am  forced  to  act. 
To-morrow  we  will  get  samples  of  blood  from  every- 
one by  artifice — or  force! 

11  Mean  while —  He  hastened  to  continue,  as 
though  afraid  we  might  interrupt  to  break  his 
train  of  thought.  "Meanwhile,  to-night,  let  us 
see  if  it  is  possible  to  accomplish  something  by  the 
deductive  method. 

"Already  I  have  gone  into  an  analysis  starting 
from  the  nature  of  the  crime  and  reasoning  to  the 
type  of  criminal  responsible.  The  guilty  man — or 
woman — is  a  person  of  high  intelligence,  added  to 
genuine  cleverness.  But  for  the  results  accom- 
plished in  this  laboratory  we  would  be  without 
a  clue;  our  hands  would  be  tied  completely.  Both 
Miss  Lamar  and  Werner  were  killed  by  unusual 
poisons;  deadly,  and  almost  impossible  to  trace. 
There  was  a  crowd  of  people  about  in  each  case; 
yet  we  have  no  witnesses.  Now  who,  out  of  all  our 
people  with  possible  motives,  are  intelligent  enough 
and  clever  enough  to  be  guilty?" 

Kennedy  glanced  first  at  me,  then  at  Mackay. 

"Manton?  Phelps?"  suggested  the  district 
attorney. 

273 


"The  promoter,"  Kennedy  rejoined,  "is  the- 
typical  man  of  the  business  world  beneath  the  eccen- 
tricity of  manner  which  seems  to  cling  to  everyone 
in  the  picture  field.  Ordinarily  his  type,  thinking 
in  millions  of  dollars  and  juggling  nickel  and  dime 
admissions  or  other  routine  of  commercial  detail. 
is  apart  from  the  finer  subtle  passions  of  life. 
When  a  business  man  commits  murder  he  generally 
uses  a  pistol  because  he  is  sure  it  is  efficient — he  can 
see  it  work.  The  same  applies  to  Phelps." 

"Millard?"  Mackay  hesitated  now  to  face  the 
logic  of  Kennedy's  keen  mind.  "He  was  Stella, 
Lamar's  husband!" 

"Millard  is  a  scenario  writer  and  so  apt  to  have 
a  brain  cluttered  with  all  sorts  of  detail  of  crime 
and  murder.  At  the  same  tune  an  author  is  so- 
used to  counterfeiting  emotion  in  his  writings  that 
he  seldom  takes  things  seriously.  Life  becomes  a, 
joke  and  Millard  in  particular  is  a  butterfly,  con- 
cerned more  with  the  smiles  of  extra  girls  and  the: 
favor  of  Miss  Faye  than  the  fate  of  the  woman 
whose  divorce  from  him  was  not  yet  complete.  A 
writer  is  the  other  extreme  from  the  business  man. 
The  creator  of  stories  is  essentially  inefficient  be- 
cause he  tries  to  feel  rather  than  reason.  When 
an  author  commits  murder  he  sets  a  stage  for  his 
own  benefit.  He  is  careful  to  avoid  witnesses  be- 
cause they  are  inconvenient  to  dispose  of.  At  the 

274 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

same  time  he  wants  the  victim  to  understand 
thoroughly  what  is  going  to  happen  and  so  he  is 
apt  to  accompany  his  crime  with  a  speech  worded 
very  carefully  indeed.  Then  he  may  start  with 
an  attempt  to  throttle  a  person  and  end  up  with  a 
hatchet,  or  he  may  plan  to  use  a  razor  and  at  the 
end  brain  his  quarry  with  a  chair.  He  lives  too 
many  lives  to  follow  one  through  clearly — his  own." 

"How  about  Shirley?"  I  put  in. 

"At  first  glance  Shirley  and  Gordon  suggest 
themselves  because  both  murders  were  highly  spec- 
tacular, and  the  actor,  above  everything  else,  enjoys 
a  big  scene.  After  Werner's  death,  for  instance, 
Shirley  literally  strutted  up  and  down  in  that  set. 
He  was  so  full  of  the  situation,  so  carried  away  by 
the  drama  of  the  occasion,  that  he  failed  utterly  to 
realize  how  suspicious  his  conduct  would  seem  to 
an  observer.  Unfortunately  for  our  hypotheses, 
the  use  of  venom  and  toxin  is  too  cold-bloodedly 
efficient.  The  theatrical  temperament  must  have 
emotion.  An  actor  cruel  and  vicious  enough  to 
strike  down  two  people  as  Miss  Lamar  and  Werner 
were  stricken,  of  sufficient  dramatic  make-up  to 
conceive  of  the  manner  of  their  deaths,  would  want 
to  see  them  writhe  and  suffer.  He  would  select 
poisons  equally  rare  and  effective,  but  those  more 
slow  and  painful  in  their  operation.  No,  Walter, 
Shirley  is  not  indicated  by  this  method  of  reasoning. 

275 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

The  arrangement  of  the  scenes  for  the  murders 
was  simply  another  detail  of  efficiency,  not  due  to 
a  wish  to  be  spectacular.  The  crowd  about 
in  each  case  has  added  greatly  to  the  difficulty  of 
investigation." 

"Do  you  include  Gordon  in  that?"  Mackay 
asked. 

"Yes,  and  in  addition" — Kennedy  smiled 
slightly — "I  believe  that  Gordon  is  rather  stupid. 
For  one  thing,  he  has  had  several  fights  in  public, 
at  the  Goats  Club  and  at  the  Midnight  Fads  and 
I  suppose  elsewhere.  That  is  not  the  clever  rogue. 
Furthermore,  he  had  been  speculating,  not  just 
now  and  then,  but  desperately,  doggedly.  Clever 
men  speculate,  but  scientific  men  never.  Our 
unknown  criminal  is  both  clever  and  intelligent." 

"That  brings  you  to  the  girls,  then,"  Mackay 
remarked. 

Kennedy's  face  clouded  and  I  could  see  that  he 
was  troubled.  "To  be  honest  in  this  one  particular 
method  of  deduction,"  he  stated,  "I  must  admit 
that  both  Miss  Faye  and  Miss  Loring  are  worthy 
of  suspicion.  The  fact  of  their  rise  in  the  film 
world,  the  evidences  of  their  popularity,  is  proof 
that  they  are  clever.  Miss  Loring,  in  my  few  brief 
moments  of  contact  with  her  on  two  occasions, 
showed  a  grasp  of  things  and  a  quickness  which 
indicate  to  me  that  she  possesses  a  rare  order  of 

276 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

intelligence  for  a  woman.  As  for  Miss  Faye" — 
again  he  hesitated — "one  little  act  of  hers  demon- 
strated intelligence.  When  Shirley  was  standing 
guard  in  the  set  after  Werner's  death,  and  making 
a  fool  of  himself,  Millard  evidently  wanted  to  get 
over  and  speak  to  him,  perhaps  to  tell  him  not  to 
let  me  find  him  searching  the  scene  as  though  his 
life  depended  upon  it,  perhaps  something  else. 
But  Miss  Faye  stopped  him.  Unquestionably  she 
saw  that  anyone  taking  an  interest  in  the  remains 
of  the  banquet  just  then  would  become  an  object  of 
suspicion." 

"Do  you  really  suspect  Marilyn  or  Enid?"  I 
inquired. 

"If  this  were  half  a  generation  ago  I  would  say 
without  hesitation  that  the  crime  was  the  handi- 
work of  a  man.  But  now  the  women  are  in  every- 
thing. Young  girls  particularly — "  He  shrugged 
his  shoulders. 

Mackay  had  one  more  suggestion.  "The  camera 
men,  the  extras,  the  technical  and  studio  staffs — 
they  are  not  worthy  of  consideration,  are  they?" 

Kennedy  shook  his  head. 

The  odor  of  coffee  struck  my  nostrils  and  I  turned 
to  find  the  percolator  steaming.  Kennedy  leaned 
over,  to  take  a  whiff.  Mackay  rose.  At  that  mo- 
ment there  was  a  sudden  crash  and  the  window- 
pane  was  shattered.  Simultaneously  a  flash  of 

277 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

light  and  a  deafening  explosion  took  place  in  the 
room,  scattering  broadcast  tiny  bits  of  glass  from 
the  laboratory  table,  splashing  chemicals,  many  of 
them  dangerous,  over  everything. 

Kennedy  hurried  to  the  wreck  of  his  parapher- 
nalia. In  an  instant  he  held  up  a  tiny  bit  of  jagged 
metal. 

"An  explosive  bullet!"  he  exclaimed.  "An 
attempt  to  destroy  my  evidence!" 


XXV 

ITCHING  SALVE 

once  I  rose  with  Kennedy.  He  preceded 
me  to  the  laboratory  after  breakfast,  however, 
leaving  me  to  wait  for  Mackay.  When  the  little 
district  attorney  arrived  I  noticed  that  he  carried 
a  package  which  looked  as  though  it  might  contain 
a  one-reel  film  can. 

"The  negative  we  took  from  the  cameras  at 
Tarry  town,"  he  explained.  "Also  a  print  from 
each  roll,  ready  to  run.  I've  been  holding  this  as 
evidence.  Mr.  Kennedy  wanted  me  to  bring  it 
with  me  to-day." 

"He's  waiting  for  us  at  the  laboratory,"  I 
remarked. 

"He'll  straighten  everything  up  in  a  hurry, 
won't  he?" 

"Kennedy's  the  most  high-handed  individual  I 
ever  knew,"  I  laughed,  "if  he  sees  a  chance  of 
getting  his  man."  Then  I  became  enthusiastic. 
"Often  I've  seen  him  gather  a  group  of  people  in 

279 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

a  room,  perhaps  without  the  faintest  shred  of  legal 
right  to  do  so,  and  there  make  the  guilty  person 
confess  simply  by  marshaling  the  evidence,  or 
maybe  betray  himself  by  some  scientific  device. 
It's  wonderful,  Mackay." 

"Do  you  think  he  plans  something  of  that  kind 
this  morning?" 

I  led  the  way  to  the  door.  ' '  After  what  happened 
last  night  I  know  that  Kennedy  will  resort  to  almost 
anything." 

The  district  attorney  fingered  the  package  under 
his  arm.  "He  might  get  everyone  in  the  projection 
room  then,  and  make  them  watch  the  actual  pho- 
tographic record  of  Stella's  death — the  scene  where 
she  scratched  herself— 

"Let's  hurry!"  I  interrupted. 

When  we  entered  the  laboratory  we  found  Ken- 
nedy vigorously  fanning  a  towel  which  he  had  hung 
up  to  dry.  I  recognized  it  as  the  one  I  had  dis- 
covered in  the  studio  washroom  immediately 
following  the  first  murder. 

"This  will  serve  me  better  as  bait  than  as  evi- 
dence," he  laughed.  "I  have  impregnated  it 
with  a  colorless  chemical  which  will  cling  to  the 
fibers  and  enable  me  to  identify  the  most  in- 
finitesimal trace  of  it.  We  shall  get  up  to  the 
studio  and  start,  well — I  guess  you  could  call  it 
fishing  for  the  guilty  man."  He  fingered  the  folds, 

280 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

then  jerked  the  towel  down  and  flung  it  to  me. 
"Here,  Walter!  It's  dry  enough.  Now  I  want 
you  to  rub  the  contents  of  that  tiny  can  of  grease, 
open  before  you  there,  into  the  cloth." 

He  hurried  over  to  wash  his  hands.  I  spread  the 
towel  out  on  the  table  and  began  to  work  in  the 
stuff  indicated  by  Kennedy.  There  was  no  odor 
and  it  seemed  like  some  patent  ointment  in  color. 
At  first  I  was  puzzled.  Then,  absently,  I  touched 
the  back  of  one  hand  with  the  greasy  fingers  of  the 
other  and  immediately  an  itching  set  up  so  annoying 
that  I  had  to  abandon  my  task. 

Kennedy  chuckled.  "  That's  itching  salve,  Walter. 
The  cuticle  pads  at  your  finger  tips  are  too  thick, 
but  touch  yourself  anywhere  else ! —  "  He  shrugged 
his  shoulders.  "You'd  better  use  soap  and  water 
if  you  want  any  relief.  Then  you  can  start  over 
again." 

At  the  basin  I  thought  I  grasped  his  little  plot. 

" You're  going  to  plant  the  towel,"  I  asked,  "so 
that  the  interested  party  will  try  to  get  hold  of  it?" 

Evidently  he  thought  it  unnecessary  to  reply  to 
me. 

"Why  couldn't  you  just  put  it  somewhere  with- 
out all  the  preparation,"  Mackay  suggested,  "and 
watch  to  see  who  came  after  it?" 

"Because  our  criminal's  too  clever,"  Kennedy 
rejoined.  "Our  only  chance  to  get  it  stolen  is  to 

19  281 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

make  it  very  plain  that  it  is  not  being  watched. 
Whoever  steals  it,  however,  possibly  will  reveal 
himself  on  account  of  the  itching  salve.  In  any 
case  I  expect  to  be  able  to  trace  the  towel  to 
the  thief,  no  matter  what  efforts  are  made  to 
destroy  it." 

The  towel  was  wrapped  in  a  heavy  bit  of  paper; 
then  placed  with  a  microscope  and  some  other 
paraphernalia  in  a  small  battered  traveling  bag. 
Climbing  into  Mackay's  little  roadster,  we  soon 
were  speeding  toward  the  studio. 

"Will  you  be  able  to  help  me,  to  stay  with  Jame- 
son and  myself  all  day?"  Kennedy  asked  the 
district  attorney,  after  perhaps  a  mile  of  silence. 

"Surely!  It's  what  I  was  hoping  you'd  allow 
me  to  do.  I  have  no  authority  down  here,  though." 

"I  understand.  But  the  police,  or  an  outsider, 
might  allow  some  of  my  plans  to  become  known." 
He  paused  a  moment  in  thought.  "The  film  you 
brought  in  with  you  consists  of  the  scenes  on  the 
rolls  of  negative  in  use  at  the  time  of  Miss  Lamar's 
collapse.  It  may  or  may  not  include  the  action 
where  she  scratched  herself.  Now  I  want  the 
scenes  up  to  thirteen  put  together  in  proper  order, 
first  as  photographed  by  one  camera,  then  as  caught 
by  the  other.  I'll  arrange  for  the  services  of  a 
cutter,  and  for  the  delivery  to  me  of  any  other 
negative  or  positive  overlooked  by  us  when  we  had 

282 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

the  two  boxes  sealed  and  given  into  your  custody 
at  Tarrytown.  Will  you  superintend  the  assembly 
of  the  scenes,  so  that  you  can  be  sure  nothing  is 
taken  out  or  omitted?" 
"Of  course!  I  want  to  do  anything  I  can." 
Upon  arrival  at  the  studio  we  detected  this  time 
all  the  signs  of  a  complete  demoralization.  The 
death  of  Werner,  the  fact  that  he  had  been  stricken 
down  during  the  taking  of  a  scene  and  on  the  very 
stage,  had  served  to  bring  the  tragedy  home  to  the 
people.  More,  it  was  a  second  murder  in  four 
days,  apparently  by  the  same  hand  as  the  first. 
A  sense  of  dread,  a  nameless,  intangible  fear,  had 
taken  form  and  found  its  way  under  the  big  black- 
ened glass  roofs  and  around  and  through  the  cor- 
ridors, into  the  dressing  rooms,  and  back  even  to 
the  manufacturing  and  purely  technical  depart- 
ments. The  gateman  eyed  us  with  undisguised 
uneasiness  as  we  drove  through  the  archway  into 
the  yard.  In  that  inclosure  there  were  only  two 
cars — Manton's,  and  one  we  later  learned  belonged 
to  Phelps.  The  sole  human  being  to  enter  our 
range  of  vision  was  an  office  boy.  He  skirted  the 
side  of  the  building  as  though  the  menace  of  death 
were  in  the  air,  or  likely  to  strike  out  of  the  very 
heavens  without  warning. 

We  found  Kauf  in  the  large  studio,  obviously 
unhappy  in  the  shoes  of  the  unfortunate  Werner. 

283 


THE  FILM    MYSTERY 

Probably  from  half-reasoned-out  motives  of  effi- 
ciency in  psychology  the  new  director  had  made  no 
attempt  to  resume  work  at  once  in  the  ill-fated 
banquet  set,  but  had  turned  to  the  companion 
ballroom  setting,  since  both  had  been  prepared 
and  made  ready  at  the  same  time. 

Kennedy  explained  our  presence  so  early  in  the 
morning  very  neatly,  I  thought. 

"I  would  appreciate  it,"  he  began,  "if  you  could 
place  a  cutter  at  the  disposal  of  Mr.  Mackay.  He 
has  the  scenes  taken  from  the  camera  and  sealed 
at  the  time  of  Miss  Lamar's  death.  I  would  like 
to  have  any  other  film  taken  out  there  delivered  to 
him  and  the  whole  joined  in  proper  sequence. 
Then,  Mr.  Kauf,  if  you  could  arrange  to  have  the 
same  cutter  take  the  film  exposed  yesterday  when 
Mr.  Werner — ' 

"You  think  you  might  be  able  to  see  something, 
to  discover  something  on  the  screen?" 

"Exactly!" 

Kauf  beamed.  "Mr.  Manton  gave  me  orders 
to  assist  you  in  every  way  I  could,  or  to  put  any  of 
my  people  at  your  disposal.  More  than  that,  Mr. 
Kennedy,  he  anticipated  you.  He  thought  you 
might  want  to  look  at  the  scenes  taken  yesterday 
and  he  rushed  the  laboratory  and  the  printing 
room.  We'll  be  able  to  fix  you  up  very  quickly." 

"Good!1'    Kennedy  nodded  to  Mackay  and  the 

284 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

district  attorney  hurried  off  with  Kauf.  "Now, 
Walter!"  he  exclaimed,  sobering. 

I  picked  up  the  traveling  bag  and  together  we 
strolled  toward  the  ballroom  set.  There  most  of 
the  players  were  gathered  already — hi  make-up 
and  evening  clothes  of  a  fancier  sort  even  than  those 
demanded  for  the  banquet.  I  saw  that  Kennedy 
singled  out  Marilyn. 

"Good  morning,"  she  said,  cheerfully,  but  with 
effort.  It  was  obvious  she  had  spent  a  nervous 
night.  There  were  circles  under  her  eyes  ill 
concealed  by  the  small  quantity  of  cosmetic  she 
used.  Her  hands,  shifting  constantly,  displayed 
the  loss  of  her  usual  poise.  "You  are  out  bright 
and  early,"  she  added. 

"We've  stumbled  into  a  very  important  clue," 
Kennedy  told  her,  with  a  show  of  giving  her  his 
confidence.  "In  that  bag  in  Walter's  hand  is  one 
of  the  studio  towels.  It  contains  a  hint  of  the  poi- 
son used  to  kill  Miss  Lamar  and — of  utmost  conse- 
quence— it  has  provided  me  with  an  infallible  clue 
to  the  identity  of  the  murderer  himself — or  herself." 

It  seemed  to  me  that  Marilyn  blanched.  "Where 
— where  did  you  find  it?"  she  demanded,  in  a  very 
awed  voice. 

"In  one  of  the  studio  washrooms." 

"It  has  been — it  has  been  in  the  washroom  ever 
since  poor  Stella's  death?" 

285 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"No,  not  that!  Jameson  discovered  it  the  same 
day  but"-  -  the  very  slight  pause  was  perceptible 
to  me;  Kennedy  hated  to  lie — "I  haven't  realized 
its  importance  until  just  this  morning." 

Enid  Faye,  seeing  us  from  a  distance,  conquered 
her  dislike  of  Marilyn  sufficiently  to  join  us.  She 
was  very  erect  and  tense.  Her  eyes,  wide  and  sober 
and  searching,  traveled  from  my  face  to  Kennedy's 
and  back.  Then  she  dissembled,  softening  as  she 
came  close  to  me,  laying  a  hand  on  my  shoulder 
and  allowing  her  skirt  to  brush  my  trousers. 

"Tell  me,  Jamie,"  she  whispered,  her  warm 
breath  thrilling  me  through  and  through.  "Has 
the  wonderful  Craig  Kennedy  discovered  some- 
thing?" It  was  not  sarcasm,  but  assumed  play- 
fulness, masking  a  throbbing  curiosity. 

"I  found  a  towel  in  one  of  the  studio  washrooms," 
I  answered,  "and  Craig  has  demonstrated  that  it  is 
a  clue  to  the  poison  which  killed  Stella  Lamar  as 
well  as  to  the  person  who  did  it." 

Enid  gasped.  Then  she  drew  herself  up  and  her 
eyes  narrowed.  Now  she  faced  Kennedy. 

"How  can  the  towel  be  a  clue  to  the  crime?" 
she  protested.  "Stella  was — was  murdered  way 
out  in  Tarry  town!  Mr.  Jameson  found  the  towel 
here!" 

Kennedy  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "I  cannot 
tell  you  that — just  yet."  He  paused  deliberately. 

286 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

see,"  he  lied.  "I  have  yet  to  make  my 
analysis." 

"But  you  know  it's  a  clue  to  the — " 

"That  towel" — he  raised  his  voice,  as  though  hi 
elation — "that  towel  will  lead  me  to  the  murderer — 
infallibly!" 

Merle  Shirley  had  come  up  in  time  to  hear  most 
of  the  colloquy  between  Enid  and  Kennedy.  At 
the  last  he  flushed,  clenching  his  fists. 

"If  you  can  prove  who  the  murderer  is,  Mr.  Ken- 
nedy," he  exploded,  "why  don't  you  apprehend 
him  before  some  one  else  meets  the  fate  of  Werner?  " 

"I  can  do  nothing  until  I  return  to  my  laboratory 
this  afternoon.  I  will  not  know  the  identity  of  the 
guilty  person  until  I  complete  a  chemical  analysis." 

One  by  one  the  various  people  possibly  concerned 
in  the  two  crimes  joined  the  group.  This  morning 
all  the  faces  were  serious;  most  of  them  showed  the 
marks  of  sleeplessness  following  the  second  murder. 
Kennedy  walked  away,  but  I  saw  that  Jack  Gordon 
hastened  to  question  both  the  girls,  ignoring  their 
evident  dislike  for  him.  Among  the  others  I  recog- 
nized Watkins,  the  camera  man,  and  his  associate. 
Lawrence  Millard  came  in  and  hastened  to  the 
side  of  Enid.  As  he  drew  her  away  to  ask  the 
cause  of  the  gathering  I  wondered  at  his  early 
presence.  The  scenario  writer  was  typical  of  them 
all.  The  strange  and  unusual  nature  of  the  crimes, 

287 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

the  evident  relationship  between  them,  had  drawn 
the  employees  of  Manton  Pictures  to  the  studio 
as  a  crowd  of  baseball  fans  collects  before  a  public 
bulletin  board.  Not  one  of  them  but  was  afraid 
of  missing  some  development  in  the  case.  In  no 
instance  could  the  interest  of  a  particular  in- 
dividual be  taken  as  an  indication  of  guilt. 

Phelps  entered  the  studio  from  the  door  to  the 
dressing  rooms.  Disdaining  to  join  the  other 
group,  he  approached  us  to  ask  the  cause  for  the 
excitement.  Kennedy  explained,  patiently,  and  I 
saw  that  Phelps  looked  at  the  black  bag  uneasily. 

"I  hope  the  guilty  party  is  not  a  member  of  the 
company,"  he  muttered. 

"Why?"     Kennedy's  mouth  tightened. 

The  financier  grew  red.  "  Because  this  picture 
has  been  crippled  enough.  First  a  new  star;  now 
a  new  director — if  it  wasn't  so  preposterous  I'd 
believe  that  it  was  all  part  of  a  deliberate —  He 
stopped  as  if  realizing  suddenly  the  inadvisability 
of  vague  accusations. 

" Don't  you  want  justice  done?"  Kennedy 
inquired. 

"Of  course!"  Phelps  tugged  at  his  collar  un- 
comfortably. "Of  course,  Mr.  Kennedy."  Then 
he  turned  and  hurried  away,  out  of  the  studio. 

Gordon  and  Millard  detached  themselves  from 
the  others,  coming  over. 

288 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

"In  which  washroom  was  the  towel  found,  Mr. 
Kennedy?"  Gordon  put  the  question  as  though 
he  felt  himself  specially  delegated  to  obtain  this 
information. 

I  wondered  how  Kennedy  would  evade  a  direct 
answer.  To  my  surprise  he  made  no  attempt  at 
concealment. 

"The  one  on  the  second  floor  of  the  office 
building." 

Millard  laughed,  facing  Gordon.  "That  puts  it 
on  myself — or  the  big  boss!" 

It  struck  me  that  the  leading  man  was  uneasy 
as  he  hurried  back  to  the  others.  Millard,  still 
smiling,  turned  to  say  something  to  us,  but  we  were 
joined  by  Manton,  entering  from  the  other  end  of 
the  big  inclosure. 

"Good  morning,"  the  promoter  exclaimed,  some- 
what breathless.  "I  just  learned  you  were  here. 
Is — is  there  some  new  development.  Is  there  some- 
thing I  can  do?" 

"I  see  you  are  not  allowing  anything  to  interfere 
with  the  making  of  the  picture,"  Kennedy  re- 
marked. "All  the  people  seem  to  be  here  bright 
and  early." 

A  shadow  crept  into  Manton's  face.  "It  seems 
almost  as  cold-blooded  as — as  war,"  he  admitted. 
"But  I  can't  help  myself,  Mr.  Kennedy.  The 
company  has  no  money  and  if  we  don't  meet  this 

289 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

release  we're  busted."  All  at  once  he  lowered  his 
voice  eagerly.  "Tell  me,  have  you  discovered 
something?  Is  there  some  clue  to  the  guilty  man?  " 

"He's  found  a  towel,"  Millard  put  in,  an  expres- 
sion of  half  amusement  on  his  face  as  he  faced  the 
promoter.  "In  some  way  it's  a  clue  to  the  identity 
of  the  murderer,  an  infallible  clue,  he  says.  He 
found  it  in  the  washroom  by  our  offices.  Since 
Werner  is  dead,  that  points  the  finger  of  suspicion 
at  you  or  me." 

Manton's  jaw  dropped.  His  expression  became 
almost  ludicrous,  as  if  the  thought  that  he  could 
possibly  be  suspected  himself  was  new  to  him. 
Millard's  eyes  sobered  a  bit  at  his  superior's 
confusion. 

"There's  a  door  from  the  dressing  rooms," 
Kennedy  suggested.  ' '  Any  of  the  actors  or  actresses 
could  have  used  the  place." 

"Of  course!"  Manton  grasped  at  the  straw. 
"I  had  forgotten.  There  have  been  complaints  to 
me  about  the  players  using  that  room." 

"I  have  the  towel  with  me,  wrapped  up  in  a  paper 
in  this  grip,"  Kennedy  went  on.  "It's  so  very 
valuable  as  a  bit  of  evidence — I  wonder  if  I  could 
borrow  a  locker  so  as  to  keep  it  under  lock  and  key 
until  we're  ready  to  return  to  the  laboratory?" 

' '  Sure !  Of  course ! "  Manton  glanced  about  and 
saw  the  little  knot  of  people  still  gathered  in  the 

290 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

set.  "Millard!  Go  over  and  tell  Kauf  to  get 
busy.  He's  losing  time."  Then  he  turned  to  us 
again.  "Come  on,  Mr.  Kennedy,  we  have  some 
steel  lockers  out  by  the  property  room." 

As  we  started  across  the  floor  I  could  see  that 
Kennedy  was  framing  a  question  with  great  care. 

"Do  you  ever  use  snakes  in  films,  Mr.  Manton?" 
he  asked. 

"Why,  no!"  The  promoter  stopped  in  his  sur- 
prise. "That  is,  not  if  we  ever  can  help  it.  The 
censorship  won't  pass  anything  with  snakes." 

"You  have  used  them,  though?" 

"Yes.  Once  we  made  a  short-length  special 
subject,  nothing  but  snakes."  Manton  became 
enthusiastic.  "It  was  a  wonder,  too;  a  pet  film  of 
mine.  We  made  it  with  the  direct  co-operation 
and  supervision  of  the  greatest  authority  on  poi- 
sonous snakes  in  the  country,  Doctor  Nagoya  of 
Castleton  Institute." 


XXVI 

A   CIGARETTE   CASE 
i 

l^ENNEDY'S  face  betrayed  only  a  remote  in- 
*»  terest.  "Have  you  any  copies  of  that  par- 
ticular film?  " 

"Just  the  negative,  I  believe." 
"Could  I  have  that  for  a  few  days?" 
"Of  course!"    Manton  seemed  to  wish  to  give  us 
every  possible  amount  of  co-operation;    yet  this 
request   puzzled   him.     "Would   you   care   to   go 
down  to  the  negative  vaults  with  me?" 
Kennedy  nodded. 

First  we  stopped  in  a  lengthy  corridor  in  the 
rear  building,  where  there  were  no  great  signs  of 
life.  Through  a  door  I  could  see  a  long  room  filled 
with  ornaments,  pictures,  furniture,  rugs,  and  all 
the  vast  freak  collections  of  a  property  room. 
Along  the  side  of  the  hallway  itself  was  a  line  of 
steel  lockers  of  recent  design. 

Manton  called  out  to  an  employee  and  he  ap- 
peared after  a  long  wait  and  unlocked  one  of  them. 

292 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY  * 

At  Kennedy's  direction  I  put  the  traveling  bag  in 
the  lower  compartment,  pocketing  the  key.  Then 
we  retraced  our  steps  to  broad  steel  stairs  leading 
up  and  down.  We  descended  to  the  basement  and 
found  ourselves  in  a  high-ceilinged  space  immacu- 
lately clean  and  used  generally  for  storage  purposes. 

"The  film  vaults,"  Manton  explained,  "are  at 
the  corner  of  the  west  wing.  They  have  to  be 
ventilated  specially,  on  account  of  the  high  inflam- 
mability of  the  celluloid  composition.  Since  the 
greatest  fire  risk,  otherwise,  is  the  laboratory  and 
printing  departments,  and  next  to  that  the  studios 
themselves  with  the  scenery,  the  heat  of  the 
lights,  the  wires,  etc.,  we  have  located  them  in 
the  most  distant  corner  of  the  quadrangle.  The 
negative,  you  see,  represents  our  actual  invested 
capital  to  a  considerable  extent.  The  prints  wear 
out  and  frequently  large  sections  are  destroyed 
and  have  to  be  reprinted.  Then  sometimes  we  can 
reissue  old  subjects.  All  in  all  we  guard  the  nega- 
tive with  the  care  a  bank  would  give  actual  funds 
in  its  vaults." 

In  our  many  visits  to  the  Manton  studios  I  had 
been  struck  by  the  scrupulous  cleanliness  of  every 
part  of  the  place.  The  impression  of  orderliness 
came  back  to  me  with  redoubled  force  as  we  made 
our  way  around  in  the  basement.  Nothing  seemed 
out  of  its  proper  position,  although  a  vast  amount  of 

293 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

various  material  for  picture  making  was  stored 
here.  We  passed  two  projection  rooms,  one  a 
miniature  theater  with  quite  a  bit  of  comfort,  the 
other  small  and  bare  for  the  use  of  directors  and 
cutters. 

Finally  we  saw  the  vaults  ahead  of  us.  The 
walls  were  concrete,  matching  the  actual  walls  of 
the  basement.  There  were  two  entrances  and  the 
doors  were  double,  of  heavy  steel,  arranged  so  that 
an  air  space  would  give  protection  in  case  of  fire. 
At  a  roll-top  desk,  arranged  for  the  use  of  the  clerk 
in  charge  of  the  negatives  and  prints,  was  a  young 
boy. 

"Where's  Wagnalls?"  demanded  Manton. 

"He  went  out,  sir,"  the  boy  replied,  respectfully 
enough.  "Said  he  would  be  right  back  and  for  me 
to  watch  and  not  to  let  anything  get  out." 

The  promoter  led  the  way  into  the  first  room. 
Here  on  all  four  sides  and  in  several  rows  down  the 
center,  like  the  racks  in  a  public  library,  were 
shelves  supporting  stacks  of  square  thin  metal 
boxes  or  trays  with  handles  and  tightly  fitting 
covers.  Cards  were  secured  to  the  front  of  each, 
by  clamps,  giving  the  name  of  the  picture  and 
the  number  under  which  the  film  was  filed.  I 
was  surprised  because  I  expected  to  find  every- 
thing kept  in  ordinary  round  film  cans. 

"These  are  the  negatives,"  Manton  explained. 

294 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

He  pulled  out  a  box  at  random,  opening  it.  "The 
negative  is  not  all  spliced  together,  the  same  length 
as  the  reels  of  positive,  because  the  printing  ma- 
chines are  equipped  to  take  two-hundred-foot 
pieces  at  a  tune,  or  approximate  fifths  of  a  reel,  the 
size  of  a  roll  of  raw  positive  film  stock.  Then 
whenever  there  is  a  change  in  color,  as  from  amber 
day  tint  to  blue  tint  for  night,  the  negative  is 
broken  because  pieces  of  different  coloring  have  to 
go  through  different  baths,  and  that  also  deter- 
mines the  size  of  the  rolls.  The  prints,  or  positives, 
in  the  other  vaults,  are  in  reel  lengths  and  so  are 
kept  in  the  round  boxes  in  which  they  are  shipped." 

Kennedy  glanced  about  curiously.  "The  nega- 
tive of  that  snake  picture  is  here,  you  said?" 

Manton  went  to  a  little  desk  where  there  was  a 
card  index.  Thumbing  through  the  records,  he 
found  the  number  and  led  us  to  the  proper  place  in 
the  rack.  In  the  box  were  only  two  rolls  of  nega- 
tive, both  were  large. 

"This  was  a  split  reel,"  the  promoter  began. 
"It  was  approximately  four  hundred  feet  and  we 
used  it  to  fill  out  a  short  comedy,  a  release  we  had 
years  ago,  a  reel  the  first  part  of  which  was  educa- 
tional and  the  last  two-thirds  or  so  a  roaring  slap- 
stick. We  never  made  money  on  it. 

"But  this  stuff  was  mighty  good,  Mr.  Kennedy. 
We  practically  wrote  a  scenario  for  those  reptiles. 

295 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

Doctor  Nagoya  was  down  himself  and  for  the 
better  part  of  a  day  it  wasn't  possible  to  get  a 
woman  in  the  studio,  for  fear  a  rattler  or  something 
might  get  loose." 

"Were  there  rattlers  in  the  film?" 

"Altogether,  I  think.  The  little  Jap  was  in- 
teresting, too.  Between  scenes  he  told  us  all  about 
the  reptiles,  and  how  their  poison —  Manton 
checked  himself,  confused.  Was  it  because  the 
thought  of  poison  reminded  him  of  the  two  deaths 
so  close  to  him,  or  was  it  from  some  more  potent 
twinge  of  conscience?  "You'll  see  it  all  in  the 
film,"  he  finished,  lamely. 

"I  may  keep  these  for  a  little  bit?"  Kennedy 
asked. 

"Of  course!  I  can  have  the  two  rolls  printed 
and  developed  and  dry  sometime  this  afternoon, 
if  you  wish." 

"No,  this  will  do  very  well." 

Kennedy  slipped  a  roll  in  each  pocket,  straining 
the  cloth  to  get  them  in.  Manton  opened  a  book 
on  the  little  table,  making  an  entry  of  the  delivery 
of  the  rolls  and  adding  his  own  initials. 

"I  have  to  be  very  careful  to  avoid  the  loss  of 
negative,"  he  told  us.  "Nothing  can  be  taken  out 
of  here  except  on  my  own  personal  order." 

I  thought  that  Manton  was  very  frank  and  ac- 
commodating. Surely  he  had  made  no  effort  to 

296 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

conceal  his  knowledge  of  this  film  made  with 
Doctor  Nagoya,  and  he  had  even  mentioned  the 
poison  of  the  rattlesnakes.  Though  it  had  con- 
fused him  for  a  brief  moment,  that  had  not  struck 
me  as  a  very  decisive  indication  of  guilty  knowledge. 
After  all,  no  one  knew  of  the  use  of  crotalin  to  kill 
Stella  Lamar  except  the  murderer  himself,  and 
Kennedy  and  those  of  us  in  his  confidence.  The 
murderer  might  not  guess  that  Kennedy  had  identi- 
fied the  venom.  Yet  if  Manton  were  that  man  he 
had  covered  his  feelings  wonderfully  in  telling  us 
about  the  film. 

My  thoughts  strayed  to  the  towel  upstairs. 
Had  an  attempt  been  made  yet  to  steal  it  from  the 
locker?  It  seemed  to  me  that  we  were  losing  too 
much  time  down  here  if  we  hoped  to  notice  anyone 
with  itching  hands. 

I  realized  that  Kennedy  had  been  very  clever  in 
including  all  our  suspects  in  hearing  at  the  time  he 
revealed  the  importance  of  the  clue.  Of  the  original 
nine  listed  by  Mackay,  Werner  was  dead  and  Mrs. 
Manton  had  never  entered  the  case.  Enid  we  had 
assumed  to  be  the  mysterious  woman  in  Millard's 
divorce,  however,  and  the  other  six  had  all  been 
upon  the  floor  in  contact  with  Kennedy.  First 
there  was  Marilyn,  the  woman.  Then  the  five  men 
in  order  had  displayed  a  lively  interest  in  the  towel 
— Shirley,  Gordon,  Millard,  Phelps,  and  Manton. 

20  297 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

Kennedy's  voice  roused  me  from  my  reverie. 

"Does  this  door  lead  through  to  the  other  vaults, 
Mr.  Manton?" 

"Yes."  The  promoter  straightened,  after  re- 
placing the  records  of  the  negative.  "I  designed 
this  system  of  storage  myself  and  superintended 
every  detail  of  construction.  It  is — "  He  checked 
himself  with  an  exclamation,  noticing  that  the  door 
was  open.  With  a  flush  of  anger  he  slammed  it 
shut. 

"I  should  think  the  connecting  doors  would  be 
kept  shut  all  the  tune,"  Kennedy  remarked.  "In 
case  of  fire  only  one  compartment  would  be  a  loss." 

"That's  the  idea  exactly!  That's  why  I  was  on 
the  point  of  swearing.  The  boys  down  here  are 
getting  lax  and  I'm  going  to  make  trouble."  Man- 
ton  turned  back  and  called  to  the  boy  outside. 
"Where  did  you  say  Wagnalls  went?" 

"I  don't  know,  sir  I  Sometimes  he  goes  across 
to  McCann's  for  a  cup  of  coffee,  or  maybe  he  went 
up  to  the  printing  department." 

Manton  faced  us  once  more.  "If  you'll  excuse 
me  just  a  moment  I'm  going  to  see  who's  re~ 
sponsible  for  this.  Why,"  he  sputtered,  "if  you 
hadn't  called  me  around  the  rack  I  wouldn't  have 
noticed  that  the  door  was  open  and  then,  if  there 
had  been  a  fire —  I — I'll  be  right  back!" 

As  Manton  stormed  off  Kennedy  smiled  slightly, 

298 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

then  nodded  for  me  to  follow.  We  passed  through 
into  the  rooms  for  positive  storage.  These  hi  turn 
had  fireproof  connecting  doors,  all  of  which  were 
open.  In  each  case  Kennedy  closed  them.  Event- 
ually we  emerged  into  the  main  part  of  the  basement 
through  the  farther  vault  door.  Nothing  of  a 
suspicious  nature  had  caught  our  attention.  I 
guessed  that  Kennedy  simply  had  wished  to  cover 
the  carelessness  of  the  vault  man  in  leaving  the 
inner  doors  wide  open. 

At  the  entrance  which  had  first  admitted  us  to 
the  negative  room,  however,  Kennedy  stooped  sud- 
denly. At  the  very  moment  he  bent  forward  I 
caught  the  glint  of  something  bright  behind  the 
heavy  steel  door,  and  hi  the  shadow  so  that  it  had 
escaped  us  before.  As  he  rose  I  leaned  over.  It 
was  a  cigarette  case,  a  very  handsome  one  with 
large  initials  engraved  with  deep  skillful  flourish. 

"Who  is  ' J.  G.1?"  Kennedy  asked. 

I  felt  a  quiver  of  excitement.  "Jack  Gordon,  the 
leading  man." 

"What's  an  actor  doing  down  hi  the  film  vaults? " 
he  muttered. 

Slipping  the  case  into  his  pocket,  he  glanced  about 
on  the  floor  and  something  just  within  the  negative 
room  caught  his  eye.  Once  more  he  bent  down. 
With  a  speculative  expression  he  picked  up  the 
cork-tipped  stub  of  ft  cigarette. 

299 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

At  this  instant  Manton  returned,  breathing  hard, 
as  though  his  pursuit  of  the  missing  Wagnalls  had 
been  very  determined.  The  butt  in  Kennedy's 
fingers  attracted  his  attention  at  once. 

"Did — did  you  find  that  here?"  he  demanded. 

Kennedy  pointed.     " Right  there  on  the  floor." 

"The  devil!"  Manton  flushed  red.  "This  is 
no  place  to  smoke.  By — by  all  the  wives  of 
Goodwin  and  all  the  stars  of  Griffith  I'm  going  to 
start  firing  a  few  people!"  he  sputtered.  "Here, 
sonny!"  He  jumped  at  the  boy,  frightening  him. 
"Close  all  these  doors  and  turn  the  combinations. 
Tell  Wagnalls  if  he  opens  them  before  he  sees  me 
I'll  commit  battery  on  his  nose." 

Kennedy  continued  to  hold  the  stub,  and  as  Man- 
ton  preceded  us  up  the  stairs  he  hung  back,  com- 
paring it  with  the  few  cigarettes  left  in  the  case. 
Unquestionably  they  were  of  the  same  brand. 

On  the  studio  floor  Mackay  was  waiting  for  us. 
Under  his  arm  was  a  reel  of  film  in  a  can.  He 
clutched  it  almost  fondly. 

"All  ready!"  he  remarked,  to  Kennedy. 

Kennedy's  face  was  unrevealing  as  he  faced  Man- 
ton.  "This  bit  of  film  is  valuable  evidence  also. 
I  think  perhaps  it  would  be  safer  in  that  locker." 

"Anything  at  all  we  can  do  to  help,"  stated 
Manton,  promptly.  "Shall  I  show  you  the  way 
again?" 

300 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

I  produced  the  key,  handing  it  to  Kennedy  as  the 
four  of  us  arrived  in  the  corridor  by  the  property 
room.  Kennedy  slipped  the  bit  of  metal  into  the 
lock;  then  simulated  surprise  very  well  indeed. 

"The  lock  is  broken!"  he  exclaimed.  "Some  one 
has  been  here." 

Apparently  the  traveling  bag  had  been  undis- 
turbed as  we  took  it  out.  Nevertheless,  the  paper 
containing  the  towel  was  gone. 

"This  is  no  joke,  Mr.  Kennedy,"  protested  Man- 
ton,  in  indignation.  "Where  can  I  hire  about  a 
dozen  good  men  to  hang  around  and  watch — and — 
and  help  you  get  to  the  bottom  of  this?" 

Mackay,  without  releasing  his  grasp  of  the  film, 
had  been  inspecting  the  broken  lock. 

"Look  at  the  way  this  was  done!"  he  murmured, 
almost  in  admiration.  "This  wasn't  the  work  of 
any  roughneck.  It — it  was  a  dainty  job!" 


XXVII 

THE   FILM   FIRB 

HTHE  bag  lay  open  at  my  feet.  The  microscope 
•*•  and  other  paraphernalia  brought  by  Kennedy 
were  untouched.  Taking  the  film  from  Mackay 
and  placing  the  can  in  with  the  other  things,  Ken- 
nedy snapped  the  catch  and  turned  to  me  as  he 
straightened. 

"I  think  our  evidence  is  safest  in  plain  sight, 
Walter.  We'll  carry  it  about  with  us." 

Lloyd  Manton  seemed  to  be  a  genuinely  unhappy 
individual.  After  some  moments  he  excused  him- 
self, nervously  anxious  about  the  turn  of  affairs  at 
the  studio.  Immediately  I  faced  Kennedy  and 
Mackay. 

"Manton's  the  only  one  who  knew  just  where  we 
put  the  bag,"  I  remarked.  "When  he  left  us  in  the 
basement  he  had  plenty  of  tune  to  run  up  and  steal 
the  towel  and  return." 

"How  about  the  itching  salve?" 

302 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"In  his  hurry  he  might  have  left  the  towel  in  the 
paper,  intending  to  destroy  it  later." 

Kennedy  frowned.  "That's  possible,  Walter. 
I  had  not  thought  of  that.  Still " — he  brightened — 
"I'm  counting  on  human  nature.  I  don't  be- 
lieve anyone  guilty  of  the  crime  could  have  that 
towel  in  his  possession,  after  the  hints  I  have 
thrown  out,  without  examining  it  so  as  to  see  what 
telltale  mark  or  stain  would  be  apt  to  betray  his 
identity." 

"You  can  see  that  Manton's  the  logical  man?" 

"It  would  be  easy  for  anyone  else  to  follow  and 
observe  us." 

"Then—?" 

"First  of  all  we  must  keep  an  eye  out  for  any 
person  showing  signs  of  the  itching  concoction. 
We  must  observe  anyone  with  noticeably  clean 
hands.  Principally,  however,  another  thing  wor- 


ries me." 


"What's  that,  Mr.  Kennedy?"  asked  Mackay. 

"Walter  and  I  found  a  cigarette  case  belonging  to 
Jack  Gordon  in  the  basement;  also  a  butt  smoked 
three-quarters  of  the  way  down  and  left  directly 
in  the  negative  room.  The  fire  doors  between  the 
different  film  vaults,  which  are  arranged  like  the 
safety  compartments  in  a  ship,  were  all  open.  I 
want  to  know  why  Gordon  was  down  there  and — 
well,  I  seem  to  sense  something  wrong." 

303 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"Good  heavens!  Craig,"  I  interposed.  "You 
don't  attach  any  importance  to  the  fact  that  those 
doors  were  open!" 

"Walter,  in  a  case  of  real  mystery  the  slightest 
derangement  of  matters  of  ordinary  routine  is  a 
cause  for  suspicion." 

I  had  no  answer,  and  as  we  re-entered  the  studio 
I  devoted  my  attention  to  the  various  people  we 
had  tabulated  as  possible  suspects,  noticing  that 
Kennedy  and  Mackay  did  likewise. 

Jack  Gordon  was  in  the  ballroom  scene  in  make- 
up. Kauf  still  was  concerned  with  technical  de- 
tails of  the  set  and  lighting,  and,  although  the  cam- 
eras were  set  up,  they  were  not  in  proper  place,  nor 
was  either  camera  man  in  evidence.  With  Gordon 
was  Enid.  From  a  distance  they  seemed  to  be 
engaged  in  an  argument  of  real  magnitude.  There 
was  no  mistaking  the  dislike  on  the  part  of  each 
for  the  other. 

Marilyn  was  the  most  uneasy  of  all  of  the  prin- 
cipals. She  was  pacing  up  and  down,  glancing 
about  in  frank  distress  of  mind.  I  looked  at  her 
hands  and  saw  that  she  had  crushed  a  tube  of 
grease  paint  in  her  nervousness.  Not  only  her 
fingers  were  soiled,  but  there  were  streaks  on  her 
arms  where  she  had  smeared  herself  unconsciously. 
As  we  watched  she  left  the  studio,  hurrying  out  the 
door  without  a  backward  glance.  Marilyn,  at 

304 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

least,  showed  no  indications  of  the  salve,  nor  of 
painfully  recent  acquaintance  with  water. 

Both  Manton  and  Phelps  were  in  evidence,  de- 
cidedly so,  I  imagined,  from  the  viewpoint  of  poor 
Kauf.  Manton,  at  the  heels  of  his  new  director, 
was  doing  all  he  could  to  help.  Phelps,  following 
Manton  about,  seemed  to  be'urging  haste  upon  the 
promoter.  The  result  was  far  from  advantageous 
to  picture  making;  it  was  concentrated  distraction. 

Millard  was  poring  over  the  manuscript,  perched 
upon  a  chair  the  wrong  way  so  that  its  back  would 
serve  as  a  desk,  engaged  busily  in  making  changes 
here  and  there  in  the  pages  with  a  pencil.  Like 
any  author,  it  was  never  too  late  for  minor  improve- 
ments and  suggestions.  I  don't  doubt  but  that  if 
Manton  had  permitted  it,  Millard  would  have  been 
quite  apt  to  interrupt  a  scene  in  the  taking  in  order 
to  add  some  little  touch  occurring  to  him  as  his 
action  sprang  to  life  in  the  interpretation  of  players 
and  director.  At  any  rate,  his  hands  seemed  more 
clean  than  those  of  either  Manton  or  Phelps, 
proving  nothing  because  he  was  at  a  task  not  so 
apt  to  bring  him  into  contact  with  dirt. 

"Shirley  is  missing,"  observed  the  district  attor- 
ney, in  an  undertone. 

Kennedy  faced  me.  "Give  the  bag  to  Mackay, 
Walter.  While  he  keeps  an  eye  on  the  people  up 
here  we'll  pay  a  visit  to  Shirley's  dressing  room,  and 

305 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

after  that  go  down  to  the  basement  again.  I  can't 
account  for  it — intuition,  perhaps — but  I'm  sure 
something's  wrong." 

The  heavy  man's  dressing  room,  pointed  out  to 
us  by  some  employee  passing  through  the  hall,  was 
empty.  I  led  the  way  into  Marilyn's  quarters,  but 
again  no  one  was  about.  In  each  case  Kennedy 
made  a  quick  visual  search  for  the  towel,  without 
result.  We  did  not  dare  linger  and  run  the  risk  of 
giving  away  our  trick;  then,  too,  Kennedy  was 
nervously  anxious  to  look  through  the  basement 
once  more. 

"I  don't  understand  your  suspicion  of  the  state 
of  affairs  in  the  film  vaults,"  I  confessed. 

"Why  should  Jack  Gordon,  the  leading  man,  be 
down  there?"  he  countered. 

"That — that  really  is  a  cause  for  suspicion, 
isn't  it." 

"Now,  Walter,  think  a  bit!"  We  were  crossing 
the  yard,  and  so  not  apt  to  be  overheard.  "Grant- 
ing that  Gordon  actually  had  been  down  there,  why 
should  the  fact  concern  us?  Manton  explained 
that  no  negative  or  positive  can  be  given  out  except 
upon  order.  There  is  nothing  down  there  but  film 
and  so  no  other  errand  to  bring  the  leading  man  to 
the  vault  except  to  get  some  scenes  or  pieces  showing 
his  own  work,  and  that  isn't  likely." 

"Unless,"  I  interrupted,  "Gordon  is  the  guilty 

306 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

man  and  wanted  to  get  the  snake  film  before  we 
did." 

"How  could  that  be?  When  we  asked  Manton 
about  the  Doctor  Nagoya  subject  we  went  right 
down  with  him  and  procured  it.  I  doubt  anyone 
could  have  overheard  us  as  we  talked  about  it,  in 
any  case." 

"Remember,  Craig,  we  went  to  the  locker  first 
and  it  was  some  little  tune  before  that  fellow  came 
out  to  unlock  it  and  give  us  the  key.  And  when 
you  questioned  Manton  we  were  passing  right  by 
all  of  them.  Any  one  could  have  heard  the  men- 
tion of  the  snake  film." 

Kennedy  frowned.  "I  believe  you're  right, 
Walter.  Or  it  is  possible  that  the  guilty  person 
believed  that  the  scenes  taken  out  at  Tarrytown, 
or  those  taken  when  Werner  died,  revealed  some- 
thing and  so  would  have  to  be  stolen  or  destroyed, 
and  that  they  were  kept  in  the  vault.  It  is  even 
possible" — a  gleam  came  into  Kennedy's  eyes — 
"it  is  even  possible  that  the  mind  smart  enough  to 
reason  out  the  damaging  nature  of  the  chemical 
analyses  I  was  making,  and  clever  enough  to  utilize 
an  explosive  bullet  in  an  effort  to  destroy  the  fruits 
of  my  work,  would  also  have  the  foresight  to  an- 
ticipate me  and  to  realize  that  I  might  guess  the 
existence  of  a  film  showing  snakes  and  suggesting 

the  use  of  venom." 

307 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"It's  damning  to  Gordon,  all  right,"  I  said. 

"On  the  contrary,  Walter."  Kennedy  lowered 
his  voice  as  we  entered  the  building  across  the 
quadrangle  and  descended  stairs  leading  directly 
into  the  basement.  "We  have  mentioned  over  and 
over  again  the  cleverness  of  our  unknown  criminal. 
That  man,  or  woman,  never  would  drop  a  cigarette 
case  with  his  or  her  initials  and  leave  without  it, 
nor  smoke  a  cigarette  in  a  place  he,  or  she,  was  not 
supposed  to  be." 

"What  then?" 

"It's  a  plant;  a  deliberate  plant  to  throw  sus- 
picion upon  Gordon." 

"Why  upon  Gordon?" 

"I  don't  know  that,  unless  because  Gordon  is 
supposed  to  have  the  best  possible  motive  for  killing 
Miss  Lamar — his  money  troubles — and  so  becomes 
the  logical  man  to  throw  the  guilt  upon." 

"As  a  matter  of  fact,  Craig,  why  should  the 
finding  of  that  cigarette  case  be  a  cause  for  sus- 
picion at  all?  That's  what  I  didn't  understand 
before." 

"Ordinarily  it  wouldn't  be.  But  those  open 
inner  doors,  the  absence  of  the  man  in  charge — 
isn't  it  possible  that  we  interrupted  an  attempt  not 
only  to  search  for  the  particular  damaging  pieces 
of  film,  but  perhaps  to  destroy  the  whole?  If 
some  one  acted  between  the  time  I  asked  Manton 

308 


about  the  snake  film  and  the  moment  we  arrived 
in  the  basement  to  get  it,  that  some  one  had  to 
move  very  fast." 

"In  which  case  it  might  have  been  Gordon,  after 
all.  The  cigarette  stub  may  have  been  thrown  hi 
lighted  to  start  a  fire.  He  may  not  have  had  time 
to  pick  up  the  case,  not  knowing  just  where  he 
dropped  it." 

Kennedy  shrugged  his  shoulders.  "It  all  shows 
the  futility  of  trying  to  arrive  at  a  conclusion  with- 
out definite  facts.  That  is  where  science  is  superior 
to  deduction." 

"It's  all  a  maze  to  me  just  now,"  I  agreed. 

We  made  our  way  to  the  vaults  in  silence,  and,  to 
our  surprise,  found  that  they  were  closed  and  that 
even  the  boy  was  gone  now.  The  cellar,  as  a  whole, 
probably  for  the  purpose  of  fire  protection  on  a 
larger  scale,  was  divided  into  sections  corresponding 
to  the  units  of  the  buildings  above,  and  this  time  I 
noticed  that  the  door  through  which  we  had  arrived 
before  was  closed  also.  Had  Manton  taken  fright 
in  earnest  at  the  possibility  of  fire,  or  had  he  given 
his  employees  a  genuine  scare? 

We  retraced  our  steps  to  the  yard,  and  there  the 
alert  eye  of  Kennedy  detected  a  slinking  figure  just 
as  a  man  darted  into  the  protection  of  a  doorway. 
It  was  Shirley.  Had  he  been  watching  us?  Was 
he  connected  in  some  way  with  the  vague  mystery 

309 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

Kennedy  seemed  to  sense  in  connection  with  the 
basement  and  the  film  vaults? 

Kennedy  led  the  way  to  the  entrance  where 
Shirley  had  disappeared.  Here  there  was  no  sign 
of  him;  only  steps  leading  up  and  down  and  the 
open  door  to  a  huge  developing  room.  Returning 
to  the  yard,  we  caught  a  gesture  from  the  chauffeur 
of  a  car  standing  near  by  and  recognized  Mc- 
Groarty,  the  driver  who  had  found  the  ampulla  a 
few  days  previously. 

"Excuse  me,  Mr.  Kennedy,"  he  apologized,  as 
we  approached.  "I  should  have  come  to  you 
instead  of  making  you  two  walk  over  to  me,  but  it's 
less  suspicious  this  way." 

"What  do  you  mean?" 

"You  recognize  me,  McGroarty,  the  chauffeur 
as  found  the  little  bottle?" 

Kennedy  nodded. 

"Well,  I  says  to  myself  I  ought  to  tell  you,  but  I 
don't  like  to  because  it  might  be  nothing,  you 
know!" 

"It  might  prove  very  valuable,  McGroarty." 
Kennedy  wanted  to  encourage  him. 

"Well,  I've  been  sitting  here  for  an  hour,  I  guess. 
One  of  the  other  directors  is  going  out  to-day  and 
his  people  are  late  and  so  here  I  am.  Well,  I  don't 
like  the  way  the  heavy  man  Mr.  Werner  had — " 

"Shirley?    Merle  Shirley?"  I  spoke  up. 

310 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"That's  him!  Well,  he's  been  hanging  and 
snooping  around  that  building  over  there,  where 
you  just  saw  him,  for  twenty  minutes  or  more.  I 
guess  he's  gone  in  and  out  of  that  basement  a 
dozen  times.  I  says  to  myself,  maybe  he's  up  to 
something.  You  know  how  it  is?" 

Kennedy  glanced  at  me  significantly.  Then  he 
extended  his  hand  to  the  chauffeur.  "Again  I 
thank  you,  McGroarty.  As  I  said  before,  I  won't 
forget  you." 

"Now  what?"  I  asked,  as  we  drew  away. 

"Shirley's  dressing  room,  and  the  studio  floor 
and  Mackay." 

As  we  rather  expected,  the  heavy  man's  quarters 
were  deserted.  I  thought  that  Kennedy  would 
stop  now  to  make  a  careful  search,  but  he  seemed 
anxious  to  compare  notes  with  the  district  attorney. 

"Nothing  here,"  reported  Mackay. 

"Shirley?" 

"Hasn't  been  a  sign  of  him." 

I  looked  about  the  moment  we  arrived  under  the 
big  glass  roof.  "Marilyn  Loring? "  I  inquired. 

"She's  been  missing,  too!"  All  at  once  Mackay 
grinned  broadly.  "You  know,  either  there's  no 
efficiency  in  making  moving  pictures  at  all,  or  these 
people  have  all  gone  more  or  less  out  of  their  heads 
as  the  result  of  the  two  tragedies.  Look!"  He 
pointed.  "When  you  left  me  Phelps  and  Manton 

311 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

were  stepping  on  each  other's  toes,  trying  to  help 
that  new  director  and  about  half  driving  him  crazy; 
and  now  Millard  seems  to  have  figured  out  some  new 
way  of  handling  the  action  and  he's  over  in  the 
thick  of  it.  It's  worse  than  Bedlam,  and  better 
than  a  Chaplin  comedy." 

I  was  compelled  to  smile,  although  I  knew  that 
this  was  not  uncommon  in  picture  studios.  Man- 
ton,  Phelps,  Millard,  and  Kauf  were  in  the  center  of 
the  group,  all  talking  at  once.  Clustered  about  I 
saw  Enid  and  Gordon,  both  camera  men,  and  a 
miniature  mob  of  extra  people.  But  as  I  looked 
little  Kauf  seemed  to  come  to  the  end  of  his  pa- 
tience. In  an  instant  or  two  he  demonstrated 
real  generalship.  Shutting  up  Manton  and  the 
banker  and  Millard  with  a  grin,  but  with  sharp 
words  and  a  quick  gesture  which  showed  that  he 
meant  it,  he  called  to  the  others  gathered  about, 
clearing  the  set  of  all  but  Enid  and  Gordon.  He 
sent  the  camera  men  to  their  places;  then  con- 
fronted Phelps  and  Manton  and  the  scenario 
writer  once  more.  We  could  not  hear  his  words, 
but  could  see  that  he  was  asserting  himself,  was 
forcing  a  decision  so  that  he  could  proceed  with  his 
work. 

This  seemed  uninteresting  to  me.  I  remembered 
my  success  in  my  visit  to  Werner's  apartment,  when 
I  had  essayed  the  role  of  detective. 

312 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"Listen,  Kennedy!"  I  suggested.  "Suppose  I 
go  out  by  myself  and  see  if  I  can  locate  Shirley  or 
Marilyn.  Everyone  else  is  right  here  where  you 
can—' 

At  that  instant  a  deafening  explosion  shook  the 
studio  and  every  building  about  the  quadrangle, 
the  sound  echoing  and  re-echoing  with  the  sharpness 
of  a  terrific  thunderclap. 

Mixed  with  the  reverberations,  which  were 
intensified  by  the  high  arch  of  the  studio  roof, 
were  the  screams  of  women  and  the  frightened  calls 
of  men.  Following  immediately  upon  the  first 
roar  were  the  muffled  sounds  of  additional  explo- 
sions, persisting  for  a  matter  of  ten  to  fifteen 
seconds. 

With  every  detonation  the  floor  beneath  our 
feet  trembled  and  rocked.  Several  flats  of  scenery 
stacked  against  a  wall  at  our  rear  toppled  forward 
and  struck  the  floor  with  a  resounding  whack,  not 
unlike  some  gigantic  slap-stick.  One  entire  side 
of  the  banquet  set,  luckily  unoccupied,  fell  inward 
and  I  caught  the  sound  as  the  dainty  gold  chairs 
and  fragile  tables  snapped  and  were  crushed  as  so 
much  kindling  wood. 

Then — a  fitting  climax  of  destruction,  withheld 
until  this  moment — there  followed  the  terrifying 
snap  of  steel  from  above.  An  entire  section  of 
roof  literally  was  popped  from  place,  the  result  of 

21  313 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

false  stresses  in  the  beams  created  by  the  explosion. 
Upon  the  heads  of  the  unlucky  group  in  the  center 
of  the  ballroom  set  came  a  perfect  hailstorm  of 
broken  and  shattered  bits  of  heavy  ground  glass. 

For  an  instant,  an  exceedingly  brief  instant,  there 
was  the  illusion  of  silence.  The  next  moment  the 
factory  siren  rose  to  a  shrill  shriek,  with  a  full 
head  of  steam  behind  it — the  fire  call! 

Kennedy  dashed  over  to  the  scene  where  those 
beneath  the  shower  of  glass  lay,  dazed  and  uncertain 
of  the  extent  of  their  own  injuries. 

"Where  are  the  first-aid  kits?"  he  shouted. 
"Bring  cotton  and  bandages,  and — and  telephone 
for  a  doctor,  an  ambulance!" 

It  seemed  to  me  that  Kennedy  had  never  been 
so  excited.  Mackay  and  I,  at  his  heels,  and  some 
of  the  others,  unhurt,  hurriedly  helped  the  various 
victims  to  their  feet. 

Then  we  realized  that  by  some  miracle,  some 
freak  of  fate,  no  one  had  been  hurt  seriously. 
Already  a  property  boy  was  at  Kennedy's  side  with 
a  huge  box  marked  prominently  with  the  red  cross. 
Inside  was  everything  necessary  and  Kennedy 
started  to  bind  up  the  wounds  with  all  the  skill  of  a 
professional  physician. 

"Mackay,"  he  whispered,  "hurry  and  get  me 
some  envelopes,  or  some  sheets  of  paper,  anything 
— quick!"  And  to  me,  before  I  could  grasp  the 

314 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

reason  for  that  puzzling  request:  "Don't  let  any- 
one slip  away,  Walter.  No  matter  what  happens, 
I  must  bind  up  these  wounds  myself." 

A  few  moments  later  I  understood  what  Kennedy 
was  up  to.  As  he  finished  with  each  victim  he 
took  some  bit  of  cotton  or  gauze  with  which  he  had 
wiped  their  cuts,  enough  blood  to  serve  him  hi 
chemical  analysis,  and  handed  it  to  Mackay. 
The  district  attorney,  very  unobtrusively,  slipped 
each  sample  into  a  separate  envelope,  sealing  it, 
and  marking  it  with  a  hieroglyph  which  he  would 
be  able  to  identify  later.  In  this  fashion  Kennedy 
secured  blood  smears  of  Manton  and  Phelps,  Mil- 
lard  and  Kauf  and  Enid,  Gordon,  the  two  camera 
men,  and  a  scene  shifter.  I  smiled  to  myself. 

Meanwhile  a  bitter,  acrid  odor  penetrated  through 
the  windows  and  to  every  part  of  the  structure, 
the  odor  of  burning  film,  an  odor  one  never  forgets 
to  fear.  All  those  uninjured  in  the  explosions  had 
rushed  out  to  see  the  fire,  or  else  to  escape  from  any 
further  danger,  the  moment  they  recovered  their 
wits.  Manton,  only  cut  at  the  wrist,  and  im- 
patient as  Kennedy  cleaned,  dusted,  and  bound  the 
wound,  was  the  first  to  receive  attention. 

"The  vaults!"  he  called,  to  the  men  who  seemed 
disposed  to  linger  about.  "For  God's  sake  get 
busy!"  The  next  instant  he  was  gone  himself. 

Enid  was  cut  on  the  head.    Tears  streamed  from 

315 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

her  eyes  as  she  clung  to  Kennedy's  coat,  trembling. 
"Will  it  make  a  scar?"  she  sobbed.  "Will  I  be 
unable  to  act  before  the  camera  any  more?" 

He  reassured  her.  In  the  case  of  Millard,  who 
had  several  bad  scalp  wounds,  he  advised  a  trip  to 
a  doctor,  but  the  scenario  writer  laughed.  Phelps 
was  yellow.  It  seemed  to  me  that  he  whimpered  a 
bit.  Gordon  was  disposed  to  swear  cheerfully, 
although  a  point  of  glass  had  penetrated  deep  in 
his  shoulder  and  another  piece  had  gashed  him 
across  the  forehead. 

Finally  Kennedy  was  through.  He  packed  the 
little  envelopes  in  the  bag,  still  in  the  possession  of 
Mackay,  and  added  the  two  rolls  of  film  from  his 
pocket.  Then,  for  the  first  tune,  he  locked  it. 

As  he  straightened,  his  eyes  narrowed. 

"Now  for  Shirley,"  he  muttered. 

"And  Marilyn,"  I  added. 


xxvm 

THE   PHOSPHORUS   BOMB 

WE  rushed  out  into  the  courtyard,  Kennedy 
in  the  lead,  Mackay  trailing  with  the  bag. 
Here  there  were  dense  clouds  of  fine  white  suffo- 
cating smoke  mixed  with  steam,  and  signs  of  the 
utmost  confusion  on  every  hand.  Because  Man- 
ton,  fortunately,  had  trained  the  studio  staff 
through  frequent  fire  drills,  there  was  a  semblance 
of  order  among  the  men  actually  engaged  in  fighting 
the  spread  of  the  blaze.  Any  attempt  to  ex- 
tinguish the  conflagration  hi  the  vault  itself  was 
hopeless,  however,  and  so  the  workers  contented 
themselves  with  pouring  water  into  the  basement 
on  either  side,  to  keep  the  building  and  perhaps  the 
other  vaults  cool,  and  with  maintaining  a  constant 
stream  of  chemical  mixture  from  a  special  apparatus 
down  the  ventilating  system  into  and  upon  the 
smoldering  film. 

The  studio  fire  equipment  seemed  to  be  very 
317 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

complete.  There  was  water  at  high  pressure  from 
a  tank  elevated  some  twenty  to  thirty  feet  above 
the  uppermost  roof  of  the  quadrangle.  In  addition 
Manton  had  invested  in  the  chemical  engine  and 
also  in  sand  carts,  because  water  aids  rather  than 
retards  the  combustion  of  film  itself.  I  noticed 
that  the  promoter  was  in  direct  charge  of  the  fire- 
fighters, and  that  he  moved  about  with  a  zeal  and 
a  recklessness  which  ended  for  once  and  all  in  my 
mind  the  suspicion  that  Phelps  might  be  correct 
and  that  Manton  sought  to  wreck  this  company  for 
the  sake  of  Fortune  Features. 

In  an  amazingly  quick  space  of  time  the  thing 
was  over.  When  the  city  apparatus  arrived,  after 
a  run  of  nearly  three  miles,  there  was  nothing  for 
them  to  do.  The  chief  sought  out  Manton,  to 
accompany  him  upon  an  inspection  of  the  damage 
and  to  make  sure  that  the  fire  was  out.  The  pro- 
moter first  beckoned  to  Kennedy. 

"This  is  unquestionably  of  incendiary  origin," 
he  explained  to  the  chief.  "I  want  Mr.  Kennedy 
to  see  everything  before  it  is  disturbed,  so  that  no 
clue  may  be  lost  or  destroyed." 

The  fire  officer  brightened.  " Craig  Kennedy?" 
he  inquired.  "Gee!  there  must  be  some  connection 
between  the  blaze  and  the  murder  of  Stella  Lamar 
and  her  director.  I've  been  reading  about  it  every 

day  in  the  papers." 

318 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

"Mr.  Jameson  of  the  Star,"  Kennedy  said,  pre- 
senting me. 

We  found  we  could  not  enter  the  basement  im- 
mediately adjoining  the  vaults — that  is,  directly 
from  the  courtyard — because  it  seemed  advisable 
to  keep  a  stream  of  water  playing  down  the  steps, 
and  a  resulting  cloud  of  steam  blocked  us.  Manton 
explained  that  we  could  get  through  from  the  next 
cellar  if  it  was  not  too  hot,  and  so  we  hurried  toward 
another  entrance. 

Mackay,  who  had  remained  behind  to  protect 
the  bag  from  the  heat,  joined  us  there. 

"I've  put  the  bag  in  charge  of  that  chauffeur, 
McGroarty,  and  armed  him  with  my  automatic," 
he  explained.  He  paused  to  wipe  his  eyes.  The 
fumes  from  the  film  had  distressed  all  of  us.  "Shir- 
ley and  Marilyn  Loring  are  both  missing  still,"  he 
added.  "I've  been  asking  everyone  about  them. 
No  one  has  seen  them." 

The  fire  chief  looked  up.  "Everyone  is  out? 
You  are  sure  everybody  is  safe?" 

"I  had  Wagnalls  at  my  elbow  with  a  hose," 
Manton  replied.  "I  saw  the  boy  around,  also. 
No  one  else  had  any  business  down  there  and  the 
vaults  were  closed  and  the  cellar  shut  off." 

The  door  leading  from  the  adjoining  basement 
was  hot  yet,  but  not  so  that  we  were  unable  to 
handle  it.  However,  the  catch  had  stuck  and  it 

319 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

took  considerable  effort  to  force  it  in.  As  we 
did  so  a  cloud  of  acrid  vapor  and  steam  drove 
us  back. 

Then  Kennedy  seemed  to  detect  something  in 
the  slowly  clearing  atmosphere.  He  rushed  ahead 
without  hesitation.  The  fire  chief  followed.  In 
another  instant  I  was  able  to  see  also. 

The  form  of  a  woman,  dimly  outlined  in  the 
vapor,  struggled  to  lift  the  prone  figure  of  a  man. 
After  one  effort  she  collapsed  upon  him.  I  dashed 
forward,  as  did  Mackay  and  Manton.  Two  of 
them  carried  the  girl  out  to  the  air;  the  other  three 
of  us  brought  her  unconscious  companion.  It  was 
Marilyn  and  Shirley. 

The  little  actress  was  revived  easily,  but  Shirley 
required  the  combined  efforts  of  Kennedy  and  the 
chief,  and  it  was  evident  that  he  had  escaped  death 
from  suffocation  only  by  the  narrowest  of  margins. 
How  either  had  survived  seemed  a  mystery.  Their 
clothes  were  wet,  their  faces  and  hands  blackened, 
eyebrows  and  lashes  scorched  by  the  heat.  But 
for  the  water  poured  into  the  basement  neither 
would  have  been  alive.  They  had  been  prisoners 
during  the  entire  conflagration,  the  burning  vault 
holding  them  at  one  end  of  the  basement,  the  door 
in  the  partition  resisting  their  efforts  to  open  it. 

"Thank  heaven  he's  alive!"  were  Marilyn's  first 

words. 

320 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

"How  did  you  get  in  the  cellar?"  Kennedy  spoke 
sternly. 

"I  thought  he  might  be  there."  Now  that  the 
reaction  was  setting  in,  the  girl  was  faint  and  she 
controlled  herself  with  difficulty.  "I  was  looking 
for  him  and  as  soon  as  I  heard  the  first  explosion  I 
ran  down  the  steps  into  the  film-vault  entrance — I 
was  right  near  there — and  I  found  him,  stunned. 
I  started  to  lif  t  him,  but  there  were  other  explosions 
almost  before  I  got  to  his  side.  The  flames  shot 
out  through  the  cracks  in  the  vault  door  and  I — 
I  couldn't  drag  him  to  the  steps;  I  had  to  pull  him 
back  where  you  found  us."  She  began  to  tremble. 
"It— it  was  terrible!" 

"Was  there  anyone  else  about,  anyone  but  Mr. 
Shirley?" 

"No.  I — I  remember  I  wondered  about  the 
vault  man." 

"What  was  Mr.  Shirley  down  there  for,  Miss 
Loring?" 

"He" — she  hesitated — "he  said  he  had  seen 
some  one  hanging  around  and — and  he  didn't  want 
to  report  anything  until  he  was  sure.  He — he 
thought  he  could  accomplish  more  by  himself, 
although  I  told  him  he  was — was  wrong." 

"Whom  did  he  see  hanging  around?" 

"He  wouldn't  tell  me." 

Shu-ley  was  too  weak  to  question  and  the  girl 

321 


too  unstrung  to  stand  further  interrogation.  In 
response  to  Manton's  call  several  people  came  up 
and  willingly  helped  the  two  toward  the  comfort  of 
their  dressing  rooms. 

At  the  fire  chief's  suggestion  the  stream  of  water 
into  the  basement  was  cut  off.  Manton  led  the 
way,  choking,  eyes  watering,  to  the  front  of  the 
vaults.  Feverishly  he  felt  the  steel  doors  and  the 
walls.  There  was  no  mistaking  the  conclusion. 
The  negative  vault  was  hot,  the  others  cold. 

"The  devil!"  Manton  exclaimed.  A  deep  poign- 
ancy in  his  voice  made  the  expression  childishly 
inadequate.  "Why  couldn't  it  have  been  the 
prints!"  Suddenly  he  began  to  sob.  "That's  the 
finish.  Not  one  of  our  subjects  can  ever  be  worked 
again.  It's  a  loss  of  half  a  million  dollars." 

"If  you  have  positives,"  Kennedy  asked,  "can't 
you  make  new  negatives?" 

"Dupes?"  Manton  looked  up  in  scorn.  "Did 
you  ever  see  a  print  from  a  dupe  negative?  It's 
terrible.  Looks  like  some  one  left  it  out  in  the  wet 
overnight." 

"How  about  the  'Black  Terror'?"  I  inquired. 

"All  of  that's  in  the  safe  in  the  printing  room; 
that  and  the  two  current  five  reelers  of  the  other 
companies.     We  won't  lose  our  releases,  but"- 
again  there  was  a  catch  in  his  voice — "we  could 
have  cleared  thousands  and  thousands  of  dollars  on 

322 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

reissues.  All — all  of  Stella's  negative  is  gone, 
too!"  To  my  amazement  he  began  to  cry,  without 
attempt  at  concealment.  It  was  something  new  to 
me  hi  the  way  of  moving-picture  temperament. 
"First  they  kill  her  and  now — now  they  destroy 
the  photographic  record  which  would  have  let  her 
live  for  those  who  loved  her.  The" — his  voice 
trailed  away  to  the  merest  whisper  as  he  seemed  to 
collapse  against  the  hot  smoked  wall — "the  devil!" 

The  fire  chief  took  charge  of  the  job  of  breaking 
into  the  vault.  First  Wagnalls  attempted  to  open 
the  combination  of  the  farther  door,  but  the  heat 
had  put  the  tumblers  out  of  commission.  Re- 
turning to  the  entrance  of  the  negative  vault  itself, 
the  thin  steel,  manufactured  for  fire  rather  than 
burglar  protection,  was  punctured  and  the  bolts 
driven  back.  A  cloud  of  noxious  fumes  greeted 
the  workers  and  delayed  them,  but  they  persisted. 
Finally  the  door  fell  out  with  a  crash  and  men  were 
set  to  fanning  fresh  air  into  the  interior  while  a 
piece  of  chemical  apparatus  was  held  in  readiness 
for  any  further  outbreak  of  the  conflagration. 

Manton  regained  control  of  himself  in  tune  to  be 
one  of  the  first  to  enter.  Mackay  held  back,  but  the 
fire  chief,  the  promoter,  Kennedy,  and  myself 
fashioned  impromptu  gasmasks  of  wet  handker- 
chiefs and  braved  the  hot  atmosphere  inside  the 
room. 

323 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

The  damage  was  irremediable.  The  steel  frames 
of  the  racks,  the  cheaper  metal  of  the  boxes,  the 
residue  of  the  burning  film,  all  constituted  a  hideous, 
shapeless  mass  clinging  against  the  sides  and  in  the 
corners  and  about  the  floor.  Only  one  section  of 
the  room  retained  the  slightest  suggestion  of  its 
original  condition.  The  little  table  and  the  boxes 
of  negative  records,  the  edges  of  the  racks  which 
had  stood  at  either  side,  showed  something  of  their 
former  shape  and  purpose.  This  was  directly 
beneath  the  ventilating  opening.  Here  the  chem- 
ical mixture  pumped  hi  to  extinguish  the  fire  had 
preserved  them  to  that  extent. 

All  at  once  Kennedy  nudged  the  fire  chief. 
"Put  out  your  torch!"  he  directed,  sharply. 

In  the  darkness  there  slowly  appeared  here  and 
there  on  the  walls  a  ghostly  bluish  glow  persisting 
in  spite  of  the  coating  of  soot  on  everything. 

Kennedy's  keen  eye  had  caught  the  hint  of  it 
while  the  electric  torch  had  been  flashed  into  some 
corner  and  away  for  a  moment. 

"Radium! "  I  exclaimed,  entirely  without  thought. 

Kennedy  laughed.  "Hardly!  But  it  is  phos- 
phorus, without  question." 

"What  do  you  make  of  that?"  The  fire  chief 
was  curious. 

"Let's  get  out!"  was  Kennedy's  reply. 

Indeed,  it  was  almost  impossible  for  us  to  keep 

324 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

our  eyes  open,  because  of  the  smarting,  and,  more, 
the  odor  was  nauseating.  A  guard  was  posted  and 
in  the  courtyard,  disregarding  the  curious  crowd 
about,  Kennedy  asked  for  Wagnalls  and  began  to 
question  him. 

"When  did  you  close  the  vaults?" 

"About  two  hours  before  the  fire.  Mr.  Manton 
sent  for  me." 

"Was  there  anything  suspicious  at  that  tune?" 

"No,  sir!  I  went  through  each  room  myself 
and  fixed  the  doors.  That's  why  the  fire  was  con- 
fined to  the  negatives." 

"Have  you  any  idea  why  the  doors  were  open 
when  we  went  through?" 

"No,  sir!  I  left  them  shut  and  the  boy  I  put 
there  while  I  went  over  to  McCann's  said  no  one 
was  near.  He" — Wagnalls  hesitated.  "Once  he 
went  to  sleep  when  I  left  him  there.  Perhaps  he 
dozed  off  again." 

"Why  did  you  leave?  Why  go  over  to  McCann's 
in  business  hours?" 

"We'd  worked  until  after  midnight  the  night 
before.  I  had  to  open  up  early  and  so  I  figured  I'd 
have  my  breakfast  in  the  usual  morning  slack 
time — when  nothing's  doing." 

' '  I  see ! ' '  Kennedy  studied  the  ground  for  several 
moments.  "Do  you  suppose  anyone  could  have 
left  a  package  in  there — a  bomb,  in  other  words?" 

325 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

Wagnalls's  eyes  widened,  but  he  shook  his  head. 
"I'd  notice  it,  sir!  If  I  do  say  it,  I'm  neat.  I 
generally  notice  if  a  can  has  been  touched.  They 
don't  often  fool  me." 

"Well,  has  any  regular  stuff  been  brought  to 
you  to  put  away;  anything  which  might  have 
hidden  an  explosive?  " 

Again  Wagnalls  shook  his  head.  "I  put  nothing 
away  or  give  nothing  out  except  on  written  order 
from  Mr.  Manton.  Anything  coming  in  is  nega- 
tive and  it's  in  rolls,  and  I  rehandle  them  because 
they're  put  away  in  the  flat  boxes.  I'd  know  in  a 
minute  if  a  roll  was  phony." 

"You're  sure  nothing  special — " 

"Holy  Jehoshaphat ! "  interrupted  Wagnalls.  " I'd 
forgotten!"  He  faced  Manton.  "Remember  that 
can  of  undeveloped  stuff,  a  two-hundred  roll?" 
He  turned  to  Kennedy,  explaining.  "When  nega- 
tive's undeveloped  we  keep  it  in  taped  cans.  Take 
off  the  tape  and  you  spoil  it — the  light,  you  know. 
Mr.  Manton  sent  down  this  can  with  a  regular 
order,  marking  on  it  that  some  one  had  to  come  to 
watch  it  being  developed — in  about  a  week.  Of 
course  I  didn't  open  the  can  or  look  in  it.  I  put 
it  up  on  top  of  a  rack." 

"When  was  this?" 

"About  four  days  ago — the  day  Miss  Lamar  was 
killed." 

326 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

The  expression  on  Manton's  face  was  ghastly. 
"I  didn't  send  down  any  can  to  you,  Wagnalls,"  he 
insisted. 

"It  was  your  writing,  sir!" 

Kennedy  rose.  "What  did  you  do  with  orders 
like  that,  such  as  the  one  you  claim  came  with  the 
can  of  undeveloped  negative?  " 

"Put  them  on  the  spindle  on  that  table  in  the 
vault." 

"Wet  your  handkerchief  and  come  show  me." 

When  they  returned  Kennedy  had  the  spindle 
hi  his  hand,  the  charred  papers  still  in  place. 
This  was  one  of  the  items  preserved  in  part  by  the 
chemical  spray  through  the  ventilating  opening 
above. 

"Can  you  point  out  which  one  it  is?"  Kennedy 
asked. 

"Let's  see!"  Wagnalls  scratched  his  head. 
"Next  to  the  top,"  he  replied,  in  a  moment.  "Miss 
Lamar's  death  upset  everything.  Only  one  order 
came  down  after  that." 

With  extreme  care  Kennedy  took  his  knife  and 
lifted  the  ashy  flakes  of  the  top  order.  "Get  me 
some  collodion,  somebody!"  he  exclaimed. 

Wagnalls  jumped  up  and  hurried  off. 

The  fire  chief  leaned  forward.  "Do  you  think, 
Mr.  Kennedy,  that  the  little  can  he  told  you  about 

started  the  fire?" 

327 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"I'm  sure  of  it,  although  I'll  never  be  able  to 
prove  it." 

"How  did  it  work?" 

"Well,  I  imagine  a  small  roll  of  very  dry  film  was 
put  in  to  occupy  a  part  of  the  space.  Film  is 
exceedingly  inflammable,  especially  when  old  and 
brittle.  In  composition  it  is  practically  guncotton 
and  so  a  high  explosive.  In  this  recent  war,  I 
remember,  the  Germans  drained  the  neutral  coun- 
tries of  film  subjects  until  we  woke  up  to  what  they 
were  doing,  while  in  this  country  scrap  film  com- 
manded an  amazing  price  and  went  directly  into 
the  manufacture  of  explosives.  Then  I  figure  that 
a  quantity  of  wet  phosphorus  was  added,  to  fill  the 
can,  and  that  then  the  can  was  taped.  The  tape, 
of  course,  is  not  moisture  proof  entirely.  With 
the  dampness  from  within  it  would  soften,  might 
possibly  fall  off.  In  a  relatively  short  tune  the 
phosphorus  would  dry  and  burn.  Immediately  the 
film  in  the  can  would  ignite.  As  happened,  it 
blew  up,  a  minor  explosion,  but  enough  to  scat- 
ter phosphorus  everywhere.  That,  in  the  fume- 
laden  air  of  the  vault — there  are  always  fumes 
hi  spite  of  the  best  ventilation  system  made — 
caused  the  first  big  blast  and  started  all  the 
damage." 

Mackay  had  rejoined  us  in  tune  to  hear  the 
explanation.  "Ingenious,"  he  murmured.  "As 

328 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

ingenious  as  the  methods  used  to  murder  the  girl 
and  her  director." 

Breathless,  Wagnalls  returned  with  the  col- 
lodion. We  watched  curiously  as  Kennedy  poured 
it  over  the  charred  remains  of  the  second  order  on 
the  spindle.  It  seemed  almost  inconceivable  that 
the  remnants  of  the  charred  paper  would  even  sup- 
port the  weight  of  the  liquid,  yet  Kennedy  used  it 
with  care,  and  slowly  the  collodion  hardened 
before  us,  creating  a  tough  transparent  coating 
which  held  the  tiny  fibers  of  the  slip  together. 
At  the  same  tune  the  action  of  the  collodion  made 
the  letters  on  the  order  faintly  visible  and  readable. 

"A  little-known  bank  trick!"  Kennedy  told  us. 

Then  he  held  the  slip  up  to  the  light  and  the 
words  were  plain.  Wagnalls  had  been  correct. 
The  order  from  Manton  was  unmistakable.  The 
can  was  to  be  kept  in  the  negative  vault  for  a 
week  without  being  opened,  until  a  certain  party 
unnamed  was  to  come  to  watch  the  development 
of  the  film. 

The  promoter  wet  his  lips,  uneasily.  "I — I 
never  wrote  that!  It — it's  my  writing,  all  right, 
and  my  signature,  but  it's  a  forgery!" 

22 


XXIX 

MICROSCOPIC   EVIDENCE 


made  some  efforts  to  preserve  the 
**  forged  order  which  he  had  restored  with  the 
collodion,  but  I  could  see  that  he  placed  no  great 
importance  upon  its  possession.  Gradually  the 
yard  of  the  studio  had  cleared  of  the  employees, 
who  had  returned  to  their  various  tasks.  Under 
the  direction  of  one  stout  individual  who  seemed  to 
possess  authority  the  fire  apparatus  had  been  re- 
placed in  a  portable  steel  garage  arranged  for  the 
purpose  in  a  farther  corner,  and  now  several  men 
were  engaged  in  cleaning  up  the  dirt  and  litter 
caused  in  the  excitement. 

Except  in  the  basement  there  were  few  signs  of 
the  blaze.  Manton  accompanied  the  fire  chief  to 
his  car,  then  hurried  up  into  the  building  without 
further  notice  of  us.  Mackay  went  to  McGroarty's 
machine  to  claim  the  traveling  bag  containing  our 
evidence.  Kennedy  and  I  started  for  the  dressing 
rooms. 

330 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

"I  want  to  get  blood  smears  of  Shirley  and 
Marilyn,"  he  confided  in  a  low  voice.  "I  shall 
have  to  think  of  some  pretext." 

Neither  of  the  two  we  sought  were  in  their 
quarters  and  so  we  continued  on  into  the  studio. 
Here  we  found  Kauf  at  work;  at  least  he  was 
engaged  in  a  desperate  attempt  to  get  something 
out  of  his  people. 

"Ye  gods,  Gordon!"  we  heard  him  exclaim,  as 
we  made  our  way  through  the  debris  of  the  banquet 
set  to  the  ballroom  now  dazzlingly  bright  under  the 
lights.  "What  if  you  do  have  to  wear  a  bandage 
around  your  head?  It's  a  masked  ball,  isn't  it? 
You've  got  a  monk's  cowl  over  everything  but  yoiv 
features,  haven't  you?  " 

It  struck  me  that  the  faces  had  never  been  more 
ghastly,  although  my  reason  convinced  me  it  was 
simply  the  usual  effect  of  the  Cooper-Hewitt  tubes. 
But  there  was  no  question  but  that  the  explosion 
had  given  everyone  a  bad  fright,  that  not  an  actress 
or  actor  but  would  have  preferred  to  have  been 
nearly  anywhere  else  but  under  the  heat  of  the 
glass  roof,  now  a  constant  reminder  of  the  acci- 
dent because  of  the  gaping  hole  directly  above 
them. 

Marilyn  was  in  the  center  of  the  revelers  in  the 
set,  already  in  costume.  Shirley  I  saw  close  to 
the  camera  men,  standing  uneasily  on  shaky  legs, 

331 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

shielding  his  eyes  with  one  hand  while  he  clung  to 
a  massive  sideboard  for  support  with  the  other. 
He  had  not  yet  donned  his  carnival  clothes,  nor 
essayed  to  put  on  a  make-up. 

Enid  Faye,  the  only  one  in  sight  whose  spirits 
seemed  to  have  rallied  at  all,  was  offering  him, 
comfort  of  a  sort. 

"You'll  get  by,  all  right,  Merle,  if  you  can  keep 
on  your  pins,  and  I'll  say  you  deserve  credit  for 
trying  it.  There's" — she  stepped  back  a  bit  to 
study  him — "there's  just  one  thing.  Your  eyes 
show  the  result  of  all  that  smoke  and  vapor — no 
color  or  luster  at  all.  I — I  wonder  if  belladonna 
wouldn't  brighten  them  up  a  bit  and — well,  get 
you  by,  for  to-day?" 

"I'll  go  out  and  get  some  at  lunch."  He  smiled 
weakly.  "I'll  try  anything  once." 

"That's  the  spirit!"  She  patted  him  on  the 
shoulder,  then  danced  on  into  the  center  of  the  set, 
stopping  to  direct  some  barbed  remark  at  Marilyn. 

Kauf  took  his  megaphone  to  call  his  people 
around  him.  There  seemed  to  be  a  certain  essen- 
tial competence  about  the  little  man,  now  that 
Manton  and  Phelps  and  Millard  were  not  about  to 
bother  him.  While  we  watched  he  succeeded  in 
photographing  one  of  the  full  shots  of  the  general 
action  or  atmosphere  of  the  dance.  Then  he 
hurried  to  the  side  of  Shirley,  to  see  if  the  heavy 

332 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

man  felt  equal  to  the  task  of  resuming  his  make-up 
once  more. 

I  found  the  time  dragging  heavy  on  my  hands 
and  I  wished  that  Kennedy  would  return  to  the 
laboratory  or  decide  upon  some  definite  action. 
Though  I  racked  my  brain,  I  failed  to  think  of  a 
device  whereby  Kennedy  could  get  blood  smears  of 
Shirley  or  Marilyn  without  their  knowledge.  Once 
more  my  reflections  veered  around  to  the  matter 
of  the  stolen  towel  and  I  wondered  if  that  had  been 
wasted  effort  on  Kennedy's  part;  if  the  fire  had 
thrown  out  his  carefully  arranged  plans  to  trap 
whoever  took  it. 

Suddenly  I  realized  that  Kennedy  was  following 
a  very  definite  procedure,  that  his  seeming  indiffer- 
ence, his  apparent  idle  curiosity  concerning  the 
scene  taking,  masked  a  settled  purpose.  When 
Phelps  entered  he  approached  him  casually  and 
turned  to  him  with  skilled  nonchalance,  holding  up 
a  finger. 

"Will  you  lend  me  a  pocket  knife  for  a  moment? " 
he  asked,  "to  get  a  hang-nail?" 

Phelps  produced  one,  rather  grudgingly.  Ken- 
nedy promptly  went  over  to  the  window,  as  though 
seeking  better  light.  Thereafter  he  avoided  Phelps. 
Soon  the  banker  had  forgotten  the  incident. 

Some  time  later  Manton  rushed  in  from  the 

office.     Kennedy  maneuvered  his  way  to  the  pro- 

333 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

moter's  side  and  waited  his  chance  to  borrow  that 
man's  pocket  knife  under  conditions  when  Manton 
would  be  the  least  apt  to  remember  it.  Then  he 
made  his  way  around  to  Mackay  and  I  saw  that 
both  the  acquisitions  went  into  little  envelopes  of 
the  sort  used  to  take  the  blood  smears  after  the 
explosion  and  falling  glass. 

Kennedy  now  seemed  rather  elated.  Millard 
entered  and  he  borrowed  the  scenario  writer's 
knife  in  exactly  the  same  fashion  as  the  others. 
No  one  of  the  three  men  noticed  his  loss.  I 
thought  it  lucky  that  all  three  carried  the  article, 
and  tried  to  guess  how  far  Kennedy  intended  to 
carry  this  little  scheme. 

Kauf's  announcement  of  lunch  gave  me  my 
answer.  It  seemed  that  there  would  be  just  half 
an  hour  and  that  the  entire  cast  was  expected  to 
make  shift  at  McCann's  rather  than  attempt  to  go 
to  any  better  place  at  a  greater  distance.  Im- 
mediately Kennedy  turned  to  me. 

"Hurry,  Walter!  Twenty  minutes'  quick  work 
and  then  it's  the  laboratory  and  the  solution  of  this 
mystery." 

With  Mackay  and  the  bag  we  stole  to  the  dressing 
rooms,  waiting  until  sure  that  everyone  was  down- 
stairs. In  Enid's  chamber  Kennedy  glanced  about 
carefully  but  swiftly.  When  nothing  caught  his 
attention  he  picked  up  her  finger-nail  file,  gingerly, 

334 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

from  the  blunt  end,  slipping  it  into  one  of  the  little 
envelopes  which  Mackay  held  open.  Thereupon 
the  district  attorney  put  his  identifying  mark  upon 
the  outside  and  we  went  to  the  next  room. 

It  proved  to  be  Gordon's.  The  general  search 
was  barren  of  result,  but  the  dressing  table  yielded 
another  finger-nail  file,  handled  in  the  same  manner 
as  before.  Then  we  entered  Marilyn's  room  and 
left  with  the  file  from  her  dressing  stand.  In 
Shirley's  quarters,  the  last  we  visited,  we  were  in 
greater  luck,  however.  While  Kennedy  and  Mackay 
abstracted  the  usual  file,  I  discovered  some  bits  of 
tissue  paper  used  in  shaving.  There  was  caked 
soap  left  to  dry  just  as  it  had  been  wiped  from  the 
razor.  More,  there  was  a  blood  stain  of  fair 
proportions. 

"Here's  your  smear,  Kennedy,"  I  exclaimed. 

"Good!  Fine!"  He  faced  Maekay.  "Now  I 
lack  just  one  thing,  a  sample  of  the  blood  of  Miss 
Loring." 

"Is  that  all?"  The  district  attorney  brightened. 
"Let  me  try  to  get  it!  I — I'll  manage  it  in  some 
way!" 

"All  right!"  Kennedy  took  the  bag.  "Explain 
your  marks  so  I'll  know—  He  stopped  suddenly. 
"No,  don't  tell  me  anything.  I'll  make  my  chem- 
ical analyses  and  microscopic  examinations  with- 
out knowing  the  identity  in  the  case  either  of  the 

335 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

blood  samples  or  the  finger-nail  files.  If  I  obtain 
results  by  both  methods,  and  they  agree,  I'll  return 
armed  with  double-barreled  evidence.  Meanwhile, 
Mackay,  you  get  a  smear  from  Miss  Loring  and 
follow  us  to  the  laboratory.  I'll  coax  McGroarty 
to  drive  us  down,  so  you'll  have  your  car  and  you 
can  bring  us  back." 

The  district  attorney  nodded.  "Me  for  Mc- 
Cann's,"  he  muttered.  "That's  where  she  went  to 
eat."  He  rushed  off  eagerly. 

Kennedy  had  no  difficulty  persuading  Mc- 
Groarty to  put  his  particular  studio  car  at  our 
disposal  without  an  order  from  Manton  or  from 
the  director  who  had  called  him.  In  a  very  brief 
space  of  tune  we  were  at  the  laboratory. 

"You  expect  to  find  the  blood  of  one  of  those 
people  showing  traces  of  the  antivenin?  "  I  grasped 
Kennedy's  method  of  procedure,  but  wanted  to 
make  sure  I  understood  it  correctly.  Already  I 
was  blocking  out  the  detailed  article  for  the  Star, 
the  big  scoop  which  that  paper  should  have  as  a 
result  of  my  close  association  with  Kennedy  on 
the  case.  "One  of  those  samples  should  corres- 
pond, I  suppose,  to  the  trace  of  blood  on  the 
portieres?" 

"Exactly!"  He  answered  me  rather  absently, 
being  concerned  in  setting  out  the  apparatus  he 
would  need  for  a  hasty  series  of  tests. 

336 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

"Will  the  antivenin  show  in  the  blood  after  four, 
perhaps  five  days?" 

"I  should  say  so,  Walter.  If  it  does  not,  by  any 
chance,  I  will  be  able  to  identify  the  blood,  but 
that  is  much  more  involved  and  tedious — a  great 
deal  more  actual  work." 

"I've  got  it  straight,  then.  Now — "  I  paced 
up  and  down  several  times.  "The  finger-nail  files 
should  show  a  trace  of  the  itching  salve?  Is  that 
correct,  Craig?" 

For  a  moment  he  didn't  answer,  as  his  mind  was 
upon  his  paraphernalia.  Then  he  straightened. 
"Hardly,  Walter!  The  salve  is  soluble  in  water. 
What  I  shall  find,  if  anything,  is  some  of  the 
fibers  of  the  towel.  You  see,  a  person's  finger  nails 
are  great  little  collectors  of  bits  of  foreign  matter, 
and  anyone  handling  that  rag  is  sure  to  show  some 
infinitesimal  trace  for  a  long  while  afterward.  If 
the  person  stealing  the  towel  filed  or  cleaned  his 
nails  there  will  be  evidence  of  the  fibers  on  his 
pocket  knife  or  finger-nail  file.  I  impregnated  the 
towel  with  that  chemical  so  that  I  would  be  able 
to  identify  the  fibers  positively." 

"The  use  of  the  itching  salve  was  unnecessary?" 

A  quizzical  smile  crept  across  Kennedy's  face. 
"Did  you  think  I  expected  some  one  to  go  walking 
around  the  studio  scratching  his  hands?  Did  you 
imagine  I  thought  the  guilty  party  would  betray 

337 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

his  or  her  identity  in  such  childish  fashion,  after  all 
the  cleverness  displayed  in  the  crimes  themselves?" 

"But  you  were  insistent  that  I  rub  in  the — ' 

"  To  force  them  to  wash  their  hands  after  touching 
the  towel,  Walter." 

"Oh!"  I  felt  rather  chagrined.  "Wouldn't 
some  pigment,  some  color,  have  served  the  purpose 
better?" 

"No,  because  anyone  would  have  understood 
that  and  would  have  taken  the  proper  measures  to 
remove  all  traces.  But  the  itching  salve  served 
two  purposes.  It  was  misleading,  because  obvi- 
ously a  trap  upon  reflection,  and  so  it  would  distract 
attention  from  the  impregnated  fibers,  my  real 
scheme.  Then  it  was  the  best  device  of  all  I  could 
think  of,  for  it  set  up  a  local  irritation  of  the  sort 
most  calculated  to  make  a  person  clean  his  finger 
nails.  The  average  man  and  woman  is  not  very 
neat,  Walter.  I  was  not  sure  but  a  scientific 
prodding  was  necessary  to  transfer  my  evidence  to 
some  object  I  could  borrow  and  examine  under  a 
microscope." 

Meanwhile  Kennedy's  long  fingers  were  busy  at 
the  preliminary  operations  in  his  tests.  He  turned 
away  and  I  asked  no  more  questions,  not  wishing 
to  delay  him. 

I  noticed  that  first  he  examined  the  blood  samples 
under  the  microscope.  Afterward  he  employed  a 

338 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

spectroscope.  But  none  of  the  operations  took 
any  great  amount  of  time,  since  he  seemed  to  an- 
ticipate his  results. 

Mackay  burst  in  upon  us,  very  elated,  and  pro- 
duced a  handkerchief  with  a  bit  of  blood  upon  it. 

"I  scratched  her  deliberately  with  the  sharp 
point  of  my  ring,"  he  chuckled.  "I  found  her  in 
the  restaurant  and  the  seat  beside  her  was  empty. 
I — I  talked  about  everything  under  the  sun  and  I 
guess  she  thinks  I'm  a  clumsy  boob!  Anyhow  she 
cried  out  when  I  did  it,  and  got  red  in  the  face  for 
a  moment;  but  she  suspects  nothing." 

Kennedy  cut  the  spot  from  the  handkerchief, 
put  it  in  an  envelope,  and  turned  back  to  his  table. 
I  drew  Mackay  into  the  corner. 

As  the  minutes  sped  by  and  Craig  worked  in 
absorbed  concentration,  Mackay  grew  more  and 
more  impatient  to  get  back  to  the  studio. 

"Did  you  find  anything?"  repeated  Mackay,  for 
the  tenth  tune. 

With  a  gesture  of  annoyance,  Kennedy  reached 
out  for  the  nail  files. 

"This  is  a  grave  matter,"  he  frowned.  "I  must 
check  it  up — and  double  check  it — then  I'm  going 
back  to  the  studio  to  triple  check  it.  Let  me  see 
what  the  nail  files  reveal.  It  will  be  a  bare  ten 
ininutes  more." 

Insisting  that  we  remain  back  in  the  corner,  he 

339 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

spread  out  the  four  nail  files  and  the  open  blades 
of  the  three  pocket  knives,  setting  each  upon  the 
envelope  which  identified  it. 

The  next  quarter  of  an  hour  seemed  interminable. 
Finally  Kennedy  started  replacing  the  files  and  the 
pocket  knives  in  their  envelopes,  his  face  still 
wearing  the  inscrutable  frown.  Next  he  packed 
the  blood  samples  and  other  evidence  in  the  travel- 
ing bag  once  more. 

Mackay  was  bursting  with  impatience,  but  Craig 
still  refused  to  betray  his  suspicions. 

"I  must  get  back  there — quick,"  he  hastened. 
"I  want  everybody  in  the  projection  room.  In 
court,  a  jury  might  not  grasp  the  infallibility  of  the 
methods  I've  used.  There  would  be  a  great  deal 
of  medical  and  expert  testimony  required — and  you 
know,  Mackay,  what  that  means." 

"Is  it  a  man — or  a  woman  you  suspect?"  per- 
sisted the  district  attorney.  "Three  of  the  men 
had  pocket  knives  and— 

Kennedy  led  the  way  to  the  door  without  answer- 
ing, and  Mackay  cut  short  his  hopeless  quizzing 
as  Craig  nodded  to  me  to  carry  the  bag. 


XXX 

THE   BALLROOM  SCENE 

SOUNDS  of  music  caught  our  ears  as  we  entered 
the  studio  courtyard  of  Manton  Pictures. 
Carrying  the  bag  with  its  indisputable  proof  of 
some  person's  guilt,  we  made  our  way  through  the 
familiar  corridor  by  the  dressing  rooms,  out  under 
the  roof  of  the  so-called  large  studio.  There  a 
scene  of  gayety  confronted  us,  in  sharp  contrast 
with  the  gloomy  atmosphere  of  the  rest  of  the 
establishment. 

Kauf,  however,  had  thoroughly  demonstrated 
his  genius  as  a  director.  To  counteract  the  depres- 
sion caused  by  all  the  recent  melodramatic  and 
tragic  happenings,  he  had  brought  in  an  eight- 
piece  orchestra,  establishing  the  men  in  the  set 
itself  so  as  to  get  full  photographic  value  from  their 
jazz  antics.  Where  Werner  and  Manton  had  dis- 
pensed with  music,  in  a  desperate  effort  at  economy, 
Kauf  had  realized  that  money  saved  in  that  way 
was  lost  through  time  wasted  with  dispirited 

341 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

people.  It  was  a  lesson  learned  long  before  by 
other  companies.  In  other  studies  I  had  seen 
music  employed  in  the  making  of  soberly  dramatic 
scenes,  solely  as  an  aid  to  the  actors,  enabling  them 
to  get  into  the  atmosphere  of  their  work  more 
quickly  and  naturally. 

Under  the  lights  the  entire  set  sparkled  with  a 
tawdry  garishness  apt  to  fool  those  uninitiated  into 
the  secrets  of  photography.  On  the  screen,  colors 
which  now  seemed  dull  and  flat  would  take  on  a 
soft  richness  and  a  delicacy  characteristic  of  the 
society  in  which  Kauf's  characters  were  supposed 
to  move.  Obviously  fragile  scenery  would  seem 
as  heavy  and  substantial  as  the  walls  and  beams  of 
the  finest  old  mansion.  Even  the  inferior  materials 
in  the  gowns  of  most  of  the  girls  would  photograph 
as  well  as  the  most  expensive  silk;  in  fact,  by  long 
experience,  many  of  the  extra  girls  had  learned  to 
counterfeit  the  latest  fashions  at  a  cost  ridiculous 
by  comparison. 

Kennedy  approached  Kauf,  then  returned  to  us. 

"He  asks  us  to  wait  until  he  gets  this  one  big 
scene.  It's  the  climax  of  the  picture,  really,  the 
unmasking  of  the  'Black  Terror.'  If  we  interrupt 
now  he  loses  the  result  of  half  a  day  of  preparation." 

"He  may  lose  more  than  that!"  muttered 
Mackay;  and  I  wondered  just  whom  the  district 
attorney  suspected. 

342 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"Is  everyone  here?"  I  asked.  "All  seven?" 
Gordon  and  Shirley,  of  the  men,  and  Marilyn  and 
Enid,  of  course,  were  out  on  the  floor  of  the  sup- 
posed ballroom.  Gordon  I  recognized  because  I 
remembered  that  he  was  to  wear  the  garb  of  a  monk. 
Marilyn  was  easily  picked  out,  although  the  vi- 
vacity she  assumed  seemed  unnatural  now  that  we 
knew  her  as  well  as  we  did.  Her  costume  was  a 
glorious  Yama  Yama  creation,  of  a  faint  yellow 
which  would  photograph  dazzling  white,  revealing 
trim  stockinged  ankles  and  slender  bare  arms, 
framing  face  and  eyes  dancing  with  merriment  and 
maliciousness.  Unquestionably  she  was  the  pret- 
tiest girl  beneath  the  arcs,  never  to  be  suspected  as 
the  woman  who  had  braved  the  terrors  of  a  film 
fire  to  rescue  the  man  she  loved.  Enid  was  stately 
and  serene  in  the  gown  of  Marie  Antoinette.  In 
the  bright  glare  her  features  took  on  a  round  inno- 
cence and  she  was  as  successful  hi  portraying  sweet- 
ness as  Marilyn  was  in  the  simulation  of  the 
mocking  evil  of  the  vampire. 

Shirley  interested  me  the  most,  however.  I 
wondered  if  Kennedy  still  eliminated  him  in 
guessing  at  the  identity  of  the  criminal.  I  called 
to  mind  the  heavy  man's  presence  in  the  basement 
at  the  time  of  the  explosion  and  McGroarty's  infor- 
mation that  he  had  been  hanging  about  that  part 
of  the  studio  for  some  time  previously.  Some  one 

343 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

had  planted  a  cigarette  case  and  stub  to  implicate 
Gordon,  according  to  Kennedy's  theory.  Shirley 
certainly  had  had  opportunity  to  steal  the  towel 
from  the  locker  as  well  as  to  point  suspicion  toward 
the  leading  man. 

In  the  midst  of  my  reverie  Shirley  approached 
and  passed  us.  He  was  in  the  garb  of  Mephistp. 
Like  the  others,  he  had  not  yet  masked  his  face. 
A  peculiar  brightness  in  his  eyes  struck  me  and  I 
nudged  Kennedy. 

" Belladonna,"  Kennedy  explained  when  he  was 
beyond  earshot. 

"Oh!"   I  remembered.   "  Enid  told  him  to  use  it." 

"What?" 

I  repeated  the  conversation  as  near  as  I  could 
reconstruct  it. 

"  H-m !  That's  a  new  cure  for  smoke-burned  eyes ; 
no  cure  at  all." 

I  was  unable  to  get  any  more  out  of  Kennedy, 
however. 

Manton  I  detected  in  the  background  with 
Phelps.  The  two  men  were  arguing,  as  always,  and 
it  was  evident  that  the  banker  was  accomplishing 
nothing  by  this  constant  hanging  about  the  studio. 
Where  previously  my  sympathy  had  been  with 
Phelps  entirely,  now  I  realized  that  the  promoter 
had  won  me.  Indeed,  Manton's  interest  in  all  the 
affairs  of  picture  making  at  this  plant  had  been  far 

344 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

too  sincere  and  earnest  to  permit  the  belief  that  he 
was  seeking  to  wreck  the  company  or  to  double- 
cross  his  backer. 

Millard  entered  the  studio  as  I  glanced  about  for 
him.  He  handed  some  sheets  to  Kauf,  then 
turned  to  leave.  I  attracted  Kennedy's  attention. 

"You  don't  want  Millard  to  get  away,"  I 
whispered. 

Kennedy  sent  Mackay  to  stop  him.  The  author 
accompanied  the  district  attorney  willingly. 

"Yes,  Mr.  Kennedy?" 

"As  soon  as  this  scene  is  over  we're  going  down 
to  the  projection  room;  everyone  concerned  in  the 
death  of  Miss  Lamar  and  of  Mr.  Werner." 

The  scenario  writer  looked  up  quickly.  "Do 
you — do  you  know  who  it  is?"  he  asked,  soberly. 

"Not  exactly,  but  I  will  identify  the  guilty  person 
just  as  soon  as  we  are  assembled  down  in  front  of 
the  screen." 

Shirley  had  left  the  studio  floor,  apparently  to 
go  to  his  dressing  room.  Now  I  noticed  that  he 
returned  and  passed  close  just  in  tune  to  hear  Mil- 
lard's  question  and  Kennedy's  answer.  His  eyes 
dilated.  As  he  turned  away  his  face  fell.  He 
went  on  into  the  set,  but  his  legs  seemed  to  wabble 
beneath  him.  I  was  sure  it  was  more  than  the 
weakness  resulting  from  his  experience  in  the  fire. 

Kauf's  voice,  through  the  megaphone,  echoed 

23  345 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

suddenly  from  wall  to  wall,  reverberating  beneath 
the  roof. 

"All  ready!  Everyone  in  the  set!  Masks  on! 
Take  your  places!" 

At  a  signal  the  orchestra  struck  up  and  the  couples 
started  to  dance.  It  was  a  wonderfully  colorful 
scene  and  I  saw  that  Kauf  proposed  to  rehearse  it 
thoroughly,  doing  it  over  and  over  without  the 
cameras  until  every  detail  reached  a  practiced  per- 
fection. In  this  I  was  certain  he  achieved  results 
superior  to  Werner's  slap,  dash,  and  bang. 

Then  came  the  call  for  action. 

"Camera!"  Kauf  began  to  bob  up  and  down. 
"Into  it,  everybody!" 

For  fascination  and  charm  this  far  exceeded  the 
banquet  scene  which  we  had  witnessed  in  the  taking 
previously.  The  music  was  surprisingly  good,  so 
that  it  was  impossible  for  the  people  not  to  get  into 
the  swing,  and  the  result  was  a  riotous  swirling  of 
gracefully  dancing  pairs;  the  girls,  selected  for  their 
beauty,  flashing  half-revealed  faces  toward  the 
camera,  displaying  eyes  which  twinkled  through 
their  masks  in  mockery  at  a  wholly  ineffectual 
attempt  at  concealment. 

Enid  maintained  her  stately  carriage,  but  made 
full  use  of  the  dazzling  whiteness  of  her  teeth. 
Early  she  permitted  the  attentions  of  the  cowled 
monk  whom  she  knew  to  be  her  lover.  Marilyn 

346 


THE   FILM    MYSTERY 

was  everywhere,  making  mischief  the  best  she  could. 
Shirley  stalked  about  in  his  Satanic  red,  which 
would  photograph  black  and  appear  even  more 
somber  on  the  screen. 

Of  course  the  whole  was  not  photographed  in  a 
continuous  strip  from  one  camera  position.  I  saw 
that  Kauf  made  several  long  shots  to  catch  the 
general  atmosphere.  Then  he  made  close-up  scenes 
of  all  the  principals  and  of  some  of  the  best  appear- 
ing extras.  At  one  time  he  ordered  a  panorama 
effect,  in  which  the  cameras  "pammed,"  swept  from 
one  side  to  the  other,  giving  a  succession  of  faces 
at  close  range. 

Finally  everything  was  ready  for  the  climax. 
Shirley  had  been  playing  a  sort  of  Jekyll  and 
Hyde  role  in  which  he  was  at  once  the  young 
lawyer  friend  of  Enid  and  the  Black  Terror.  Un- 
masked and  cornered  at  this  function  of  a  society 
terrified  by  the  dread  unknown  menace,  he  was  to 
make  the  transformation  directly  before  the  eyes 
of  everyone,  using  the  mythical  drug  which  changed 
him  from  a  young  man  of  good  appearance  and 
family  to  the  being  who  was  a  very  incarnation  of 
evil. 

For  once  Kauf  did  not  rehearse  the  scene.  Shir- 
ley was  obviously  weakened  from  his  experience  and 
the  director  wished  to  spare  him.  All  the  details 
were  shouted  out  through  the  megaphone,  however, 

347 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

and  I  grasped  that  the  action  of  this  part  of  the 
dance  was  familiar  to  everyone;  it  was  the  big 
scene  of  the  story  toward  which  all  other  events 
had  built. 

Then  came  the  familiar  order.     "Camera!" 

At  the  start  of  this  episode  the  orchestra  was 
playing  and  the  dancers  were  in  motion.  Sud- 
denly Gordon,  as  the  hero,  strode  up  to  Shirley 
and  unmasked  him  with  a  few  bitter  words  which 
later  would  be  flashed  upon  the  screen  in  a  spoken 
title.  Instantly  a  crowd  gathered  about,  but  in 
such  a  way  as  not  to  obstruct  the  camera  view. 

Cornered,  seeing  that  flight  was  impossible  un- 
less he  became  the  Black  Terror  and  possessed 
the  strength  and  fearlessness  of  that  strange  other 
self,  Shirley  drew  a  little  vial  from  his  breast 
pocket  and  drank  the  contents.  Evidently  he 
knew  his  Mansfield  well.  Slowly  he  began  to  act 
out  the  change  in  his  appearance  which  corre- 
sponded with  the  assumption  of  control  by  the  evil 
within.  His  body  writhed,  went  through  contor- 
tions which  were  horrible  yet  fascinating.  It  was 
almost  as  though  a  new  fearful  being  was  created 
within  sight  of  the  onlookers.  Not  only  was  the 
face  altered,  but  the  man's  stature  seemed  to 
shrink,  to  lose  actual  inches.  I  thought  it  a  won- 
derful exhibition. 

The  very  next  instant  there  came  a  groan  from 

348 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

Shirley,  something  which  at  once  indicated  pain 
and  realization  and  fear.  He  lost  all  control  of 
himself  and  in  a  moment  pitched  forward  upon  the 
floor,  sputtering  and  clutching  at  the  empty  ah*. 
Another  cry  broke  from  between  his  lips,  a  ghastly 
contracted  shriek  as  treble  as  though  from  the 
throat  of  a  woman. 

This  was  no  part  of  the  story,  no  skillful  bit  of 
acting!  It  was  real!  Even  before  I  had  grasped 
the  full  significance  of  the  happening  Kennedy  had 
dashed  forward.  The  cameras  still  were  grinding 
and  they  caught  him  as  he  kneeled  at  the  side  of  the 
stricken  man.  Hardly  a  second  afterward  Mackay 
and  I  followed  and  were  at  Kennedy's  side.  Kauf 
and  the  others,  their  faces  weirdly  ashen,  clustered 
about  in  fright. 

A  third  time  the  invisible  hand  had  struck  at  a 
member  of  the  company.  "The  Black  Terror," 
with  all  the  horror  written  into  that  story,  contained 
nothing  as  fearful  as  the  menace  to  the  people 
engaged  in  its  production. 

Shu-ley's  skin  was  cold  and  clammy,  his  face 
almost  rigid.  While  conscious,  he  was  helpless. 
Kennedy  found  the  little  vial  and  examined  it. 

"Atropin!"  he  ejaculated.  "Walter!"  He 
turned  to  me.  "Get  some  physostigmin,  quick! 
Have  Mackay  drive  you!  It's — it's  life  or  death! 
Here — I'll  write  it  down!  Physostigmin!" 

349 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

As  I  raced  madly  out  and  down  the  stairs, 
Mackay  at  my  heels,  I  heard  a  woman's  scream. 
Marilyn!  Did  she  think  him  dead? 

Once  in  the  car,  headed  for  the  nearest  drug  store, 
grasping  wildly  at  the  side  or  at  the  back  of  the 
seat  every  few  moments  as  the  district  attorney 
skidded  around  curves  and  literally  hurdled  ob- 
stacles, I  remembered  a  forgotten  fact. 

Atropin!  That  was  belladonna,  simply  another 
name  for  the  drug.  Shirley  had  procured  the  stuff 
for  use  in  his  eyes.  Nevertheless,  he  had  been 
aware,  undoubtedly,  of  its  deadly  nature.  Passing 
by  Kennedy  and  the  rest  of  us,  he  had  overheard 
Kennedy  state  that  the  murderer  would  be  identi- 
fied as  soon  as  all  could  be  assembled  in  the  projec- 
tion room.  The  heavy  man  had  not  cared  to  face 
justice  in  so  prosaic  a  manner.  With  the  same 
sense  of  the  melodramatic  which  had  led  him  to 
slay  Stella  Lamar  in  the  taking  of  a  scene,  Werner 
in  the  photographing  of  another,  he  had  preferred 
suicide  and  had  selected  the  most  spectacular  mo- 
ment possible  for  his  last  upon  earth. 

Yes,  Shirley  was  guilty.  Rather  than  wait  the 
slow  processes  of  legal  justice  he  had  attempted 
suicide.  Now  we  raced  to  save  his  life,  to  preserve 
it  for  a  more  fitting  end  in  the  electric  chair. 


XXXI 

PHYSOSTIGMIN 

'"THE  first  drug  store  we  found  was  unable  to 
*  supply  us.  At  a  second  we  had  better  luck. 
All  in  all,  we  were  back  at  the  Manton  Pictures 
plant  in  a  relatively  few  minutes,  a  remarkable  bit 
of  driving  on  the  part  of  the  district  attorney. 

Shirley  was  still  in  the  set.  Kennedy  at  once 
administered  the  physostigmin,  I  thought  with  an 
air  of  great  relief. 

"This  is  one  of  the  rare  cases  in  which  two  drugs, 
both  highly  poisonous,  are  definitely  antagonistic," 
he  explained.  "Each,  therefore,  is  an  antidote 
for  the  other  when  properly  administered." 

Marilyn  was  chafing  Shirley's  cold  hands,  tears 
resting  shamelessly  upon  her  lids,  a  look  of  deep 
inexpressible  fear  in  her  expression. 

"Will — will  you  be  able  to  save  him,  Professor?" 
she  asked,  not  once,  but  a  dozen  different  times. 

None  of  the  rest  of  us  spoke.  We  waited  anx- 
iously for  the  first  signs  of  hope,  the  first  indication 

351 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

that  the  heavy  man's  life  might  be  preserved.  It 
was  wholly  a  question  whether  the  physostigmin 
had  been  given  to  him  quickly  enough. 

Kennedy  straightened  finally,  and  we  knew  that 
the  crisis  was  over.  Marilyn  broke  down  completely 
and  had  to  be  supported  to  a  chair.  Strong,  willing 
arms  lifted  Shirley  to  take  him  to  his  dressing  room. 

At  that  moment  Kennedy  stood  up,  raising  his 
voice  so  as  to  demand  the  attention  of  everyone, 
taking  charge  of  matters  through  sheer  force  of 
personality. 

"I  have  come  here  this  afternoon,"  he  began, 
"to  apprehend  the  man  or  woman  responsible  for 
the  death  of  Miss  Lamar  and  Mr.  Werner,  for  the 
fire  in  the  negative  vault,  and  now  for  this  attempt 
upon  the  life  of  Mr.  Shirley." 

Not  a  sound  was  evident  as  he  paused,  no  move- 
ment save  a  vague,  uneasy  shifting  of  position  on 
the  part  of  some  of  those  who  had  been  on  the  point 
of  leaving. 

"I  have  indisputable  evidence  of  the  guilty  per- 
son's identity,  but,  nevertheless,  for  reasons  which 
I  will  explain  to  you  I  have  not  yet  completed  my 
identification.  To  do  so  it  is  necessary  that  certain 
photographed  scenes  be  projected  on  the  screen 
and  that  certain  other  matters  be  made  perfectly 
clear.  I  am  very  anxious,  you  see,  to  eliminate 
the  slightest  possibility  of  error. 

352 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"Mr.  Mackay  here" — Kennedy  smiled,  very 
slightly — "is  the  district  attorney  with  jurisdiction 
at  Tarrytown.  At  my  request,  since  yesterday — 
or,  to  be  exact,  since  the  death  of  Mr.  Werner 
warned  us  that  no  time  could  be  lost — he  has  car- 
ried a  'John  Doe'  warrant.  Immediately  following 
my  identification  of  the  guilty  person  he — or  she- 
will  be  placed  under  arrest.  The  charge  will  be 
the  murder  of  Stella  Lamar  by  the  use  of  poison 
in  a  manner  which  I  will  explain  to  you.  The  trial 
will  take  place  at  White  Plains,  the  county  seat  of 
Westchester  County,  where  the  murder  occurred. 
Mr.  Mackay  informs  me  that  the  courts  there  are 
not  crowded;  in  fact,  he  personally  has  been  able 
to  devote  most  of  his  time  to  this  case.  Therefore 
the  trial  will  be  speedy  and  I  am  sure  that  the  cold- 
blooded methods  used  by  this  criminal  will  guaran- 
tee a  quick  sentence  and  an  early  trip  to  the  electric 
chair  at  Ossining.  Now" — suddenly  grim — "if 
everyone  will  go  down  to  the  projection  room,  the 
larger  one,  we  will  bring  matters  to  their  proper 
conclusion." 

I  imagined  that  Kennedy's  speech  was  calculated 
to  spread  a  little  wholesome  fear  among  the  people 
we  had  considered  suspects.  In  any  case  that  was 
the  result,  for  an  outsider,  from  the  expressions 
upon  the  various  faces,  might  have  concluded  that 
several  of  them  were  guilty.  Each  seemed  to  start 

353 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

off  across  the  studio  floor  reluctantly,  as  though 
afraid  to  obey  Kennedy,  yet  unable  to  resist  the 
fascination  of  witnessing  the  identification  of  the 
criminal,  as  though  feeling  that  he  or  she  individu- 
ally might  be  accused,  and  yet  unwilling  to  seek 
safety  at  the  expense  of  missing  Kennedy's  reve- 
lation of  his  methods  and  explanation  of  their 
result. 

I  drew  him  aside  as  quickly  as  I  could. 

"Craig,"  I  started,  eagerly,  "isn't  this  all  un- 
necessary? Can't  you  see  that  Shirley  is  the  guilty 
man?  If  you  will  hurry  into  his  room  with  paper 
and  pencil  and  get  his  confession  before  he  recovers 
from  his  fright  and  regains  his  assurance — " 

"What  on  earth,  Walter!"  Kennedy  interrupted 
me  with  a  look  of  surprise  which  I  did  not  miss 
even  in  my  excitement.  "What  are  you  driving 
at,  anyway?" 

"Why,  Shirley  is  the  criminal.    He — " 

"Nonsense!  Wasn't  an  attempt  made  to  kill 
him  just  now?  Wasn't  it  evident  that  he  was 
considered  as  dangerous  to  the  unknown  as  Werner, 
the  director?  Hasn't  he  been  eliminated  from  our 
calculations  as  surely  as  the  man  slain  yesterday?" 

"No!"  I  flushed.  "Not  at  all,  Craig!  This 
was  not  an  attempt  at  murder.  There  were  none 
of  the  criminal's  earmarks  noticeable  at  Tarry- 
town  or  in  the  banquet  scene." 

354 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"How  do  you  mean,  Walter?"  For  once  Ken- 
nedy regarded  me  seriously. 

"Why,  you  pointed  out  yourself  that  this 
unknown  was  exceptionally  clever.  The  attempt 
on  Shirley,  if  it  were  an  attempt,  was  not  clever  at 
all." 

"Why?" 

"Why?"  I  was  a  little  sarcastic,  because  I  was 
sure  of  myself.  "Because  the  poison  was  atropin — 
belladonna.  That  is  common.  I've  read  of  any 
number  of  crimes  where  that  was  used.  Do  you 
think  for  a  moment  that  the  mind  which  figured 
out  how  to  use  snake  venom,  and  botulin  toxin, 
would  descend  to  anything  as  ordinary  as  all  this?" 

"Well,  if  it  was  not  an  attempt  at  murder,  what 
was  it?" 

"Suicide!  It's  as  plain  as  the  nose  on  your  face. 
Shirley  was  passing  us  as  we  were  standing  with 
Millard  and  as  you  told  Millard  we  all  were  to  go 
to  the  projection  room  to  identify  the  criminal. 
Therefore  Shirley  knew  he  was  at  the  end  of  his 
rope.  With  the  theatrical  temperament,  he  took 
the  poison  just  as  he  finished  playing  his  last  great 
scene.  It — it  was  a  sort  of  swan  song." 

"Quite  a  theory,  Walter!"  Now  I  knew  Ken- 
nedy was  unimpressed.  "But,  where  did  he  get  the 
belladonna?" 

"For  his  eyes.    After  the  smoke  smart." 

355 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"The  drug  is  of  no  use  against  such  inflamma- 
tion." 

"  No,  but  it  served  to  brighten  his  eyes.  Enid  sug- 
gested it  to  him  and  he  went  out  and  got  it.  It 
helped  him  play  his  scenes.  It  gave  him  the  glit- 
tering expression  he  needed  in  his  characterization." 

Again  Kennedy  seemed  to  grasp  my  view.  He 
hesitated  for  several  moments.  Finally  he  looked 
up. 

"If  Shirley  is  the  criminal,  and  if  he  is  above 
using  as  common  a  drug  as  atropin  for  killing 
another  man,  then — then  why  isn't  he  above  using 
it  upon  himself?" 

That  struck  me  as  easy  to  answer.  "Because  if 
he  is  killing  himself  it  is  not  necessary  for  him  to 
cover  his  tracks,  or  to  do  it  cleverly,  and  besides" — 
it  was  my  big  point — "he  probably  didn't  decide 
to  try  to  do  it  until  he  overheard  us  and  realized 
the  menace.  At  that  time  he  had  the  belladonna 
in  his  pocket.  He  did  not  have  an  opportunity  to 
procure  anything  else." 

Kennedy  grinned.  "You're  all  wrong,  Walter, 
and  I'll  show  you  where  your  reasoning  is  faulty. 
In  the  first  place  if  this  criminal  was  the  type  to 
commit  suicide  at  the  moment  he  thought  he  was 
about  to  be  caught  he  would  be  the  type  who  would 
reflect  upon  that  idea  beforehand.  As  his  crimes 
show  a  great  deal  of  previous  preparation,  so  we 

356 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

may  assume  that  he  would  prepare  for  suicide,  or 
rather  for  the  possibility  that  he  might  wish  to 
attempt  it.  Therefore  he  would  have  something 
better  for  that  purpose  than  atropin." 

I  shook  my  head,  but  Kennedy  continued. 

"  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  use  of  that  drug  is  not 
less  clever  than  the  use  of  the  venom  or  the  toxin; 
it  is  more  so.  Stop  and  think  a  minute!  The 
snake  venom  was  employed  in  the  case  of  Miss 
Lamar's  death  because  it  offered  about  the  least 
possible  chance  of  leaving  telltale  clues  behind. 
The  snake  poison  could  be  inflicted  with  a  tiny 
scratch,  and  in  such  a  way  that  an  outcry  from  the 
girl  would  never  be  noticed.  Nothing  but  my 
pocket  lens  caught  the  scratch;  only  the  great 
care  I  used  in  my  examination  put  us  on  the  trail 
at  all. 

"Now  remember  how  Werner  met  his  death. 
The  toxin  gave  every  symptom  of  food  poisoning. 
Except  that  we  discovered  the  broken  stem  of  the 
wineglass  we  would  never  have  been  able  to  prove 
the  tragedy  anything  but  accident.  Very  possibly 
we  have  Shu-ley  to  thank  for  the  fact  that  our  one 
clue  there  was  not  removed  or  destroyed. 

"In  both  cases  the  selection  of  the  poison  was 
suited  to  the  conditions.  Therefore,  if  an  attempt 
was  made  to  kill  Shirley — and  of  the  fact  I  am  sure — 
we  might  expect  that  the  agent  likewise  would  be 

357 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

one  least  apt  to  create  suspicion.  There  are  no 
portieres,  no  opportunity  for  the  use  of  another 
venom;  and  besides,  that  has  lost  its  novelty,  and 
so  its  value.  Similarly  there  is  no  use  of  food  or 
wine  in  the  scene,  precluding  something  else  along 
the  toxin  order. 

"Our  unknown  realizes  that  the  safest  place  to 
commit  murder  is  where  there  is  a  crowd.  He  has 
followed  that  principle  consistently.  In  the  case 
of  the  heavy  man,  who  has  a  bit  of  business  before 
the  camera  where  he  drinks  the  contents  of  a  little 
bottle,  the  very  cleverest  thing  is  to  use  belladonna, 
because  Shirley  has  employed  it  for  his  eyes,  and 
because" — maliciously,  almost — "it  leads  imme- 
diately to  the  hypothesis  of  suicide." 

"Ye  gods,  Craig!"  A  sudden  thought  struck  me 
and  rather  terrified  me.  "Do  you  suppose  Enid 
Faye  suggested  the  use  of  the  drug  to  Shirley  as 
part  of  the  scheme  to  kill  him?  Is  she— 

"I  prefer,"  Kennedy  interrupted — "I  prefer  to 
suppose  that  the  guilty  person  overheard  her,  or 
perhaps  saw  him  buy  it  or  learned  in  some  other 
way  that  he  was  going  to  use  it." 

Completely  taken  up  with  this  new  line  of 
thought,  I  failed  to  question  Kennedy  further, 
and  it  was  just  as  well  because  most  of  the  people 
were  on  their  way  down  to  the  projection  room, 
not  only  those  we  wished  present,  but  practically 

358 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

everyone  of  sufficient  importance  about  the  studio 
to  feel  that  he  could  intrude. 

Kennedy  turned  to  Mackay,  who  had  taken  no 
part  in  our  discussion,  although  an  interested  lis- 
tener. "You  have  the  bag  and  all  the  evidence?" 

"Yes!"  Mackay  picked  it  up.  "Watkins,  the 
camera  man,  watched  it  for  me  while  Jameson  and 
I  went  after  that  drug." 

Kennedy  stooped  down  quickly,  but  it  was  locked 
and  had  not  been  tampered  with. 

In  the  corridor  by  the  dressing  rooms  we  met 
Kauf,  and  Kennedy  stopped  him. 

"How  long  would  it  take  to  make  a  print  from 
the  scene  where  Shirley  took  the  poison?" 

"We  could  have  it  ready  in  half  an  hour,  in  a  case 
of  grim  necessity." 

"Half  an  hour?"  I  exclaimed  at  that,  in  dis- 
belief. "You  couldn't  begin  to  dry  the  negative  in 
that  time,  Kauf." 

He  glanced  at  me  tolerantly.  "We  make  what 
is  called  a  wet  print;  that  is,  we  print  from  the 
negative  while  it  is  still  wet  and  so  we  only  have  the 
positive  to  dry.  Then  we  put  it  on  drums  in  a 
forced  draught  of  hot  air.  The  result  is  not  very 
good,  but  it's  a  fine  thing  sometimes  to  get  a  pic- 
ture of  a  parade  or  some  accident  in  a  theater 
right  after  it  happens." 

"Will  you  do  it  for  me,  Kauf?"  Kennedy  broke 

359 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

in,  impatiently.  "This  is  a  case  of  grim  neces- 
sity," he  added. 

Kauf  hurried  off  and  we  made  our  way  across  the 
yard  to  the  stairs  leading  down  into  the  basement 
and  to  the  projection  room  specified  by  Kennedy. 
Here  Manton  was  waiting,  uneasy,  flushed,  his 
face  gathered  in  a  frown  and  his  hands  clenching 
and  unclenching  in  his  nervousness. 

11  Do  you — do  you  know  who  it  is?  "  he  demanded. 

"Not  yet,"  Kennedy  replied.  "First  I  must 
marshal  all  my  evidence." 

"Who — who  do  you  want  present  in  the  pro- 
jection room?" 

"Mr.  Phelps,  Mr.  Millard,  and — yourself,  Mr. 
Manton.  Miss  Loring  and  Miss  Faye.  Mr.  Gor- 
don. Anyone  else  who  wishes,  if  there  is  room." 

"Phelps,  Millard,  Gordon,  and  the  two  girls  are 
inside  already." 

"Good!"    We  will  start  at  once." 

Manton  turned,  to  lead  the  way  in.  At  that 
moment  there  was  a  call  from  the  yard.  We 
stopped,  looking  up.  It  was  Shu-ley. 

"Wait  just  a  minute,"  he  cried.  He  was  so 
weak  that  the  two  extra  men  who  were  helping 
him  virtually  supported  his  weight.  On  his  face 
was  a  look  of  desperate  determination.  "I — I 
must  see  this  too!"  he  gasped. 


XXXII 

CAMERA   EVIDENCE 

/DOMING  in  from  the  bright  light  of  open  day, 
^->  the  projection  room  seemed  a  gloomy,  forbid- 
ding place,  certainly  well  calculated  to  break  down 
the  reserve  of  perhaps  the  cleverest  criminal 
ever  pitting  his  skill  against  the  science  of  Craig 
Kennedy. 

It  was  a  small  room,  long  and  not  so  wide,  with 
a  comparatively  low  ceiling.  In  order  to  obviate 
eye  strain  the  walls  were  painted  somberly  and 
there  were  no  light  colors  in  evidence  except  for  a 
nearly  square  patch  of  white  at  the  farther  end,  the 
screen  upon  which  the  pictures  were  projected. 
The  illumination  was  very  dim.  This  was  so  that 
there  would  be  no  great  contrast  between  the  light 
reflected  from  the  images  cast  upon  the  screen 
during  pictures  and  the  illumination  in  the  room 
itself  between  reels;  again  designed  to  prevent 
strain  upon  the  eyes  of  the  employees  whose  work 

361 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

was  the  constant  examination  of  film  in  various 
stages  of  its  assembly. 

The  chairs  were  fastened  to  the  floor,  arranged  in 
tiny  crescents  and  placed  so  as  not  to  interfere 
with  the  throw  of  the  pictures  from  behind.  The 
projection  machines  themselves,  two  in  number  in 
order  to  provide  continuous  projection  by  alternat- 
ing the  reels  and  so  threading  one  machine  while  run- 
ning the  other,  were  in  a  fireproof  booth  or  separate 
room,  connected  with  the  tiny  auditorium  only  by 
slits  in  the  wall  and  a  sort  of  porthole  through  which 
the  operator  could  talk  or  take  his  instructions. 

Directly  beneath  the  openings  to  the  booth  were 
a  table  equipped  with  a  shaded  lamp,  a  stand  for 
manuscripts,  and  a  signal  button.  Here  the  film 
cutters  and  editors  sat,  watching  the  subject  upon 
which  they  worked  and  making  notes  for  changes, 
for  bits  of  superfluous  action  to  be  cut  out,  or  for 
titles  or  spoken  inserts  to  be  moved.  At  a  signal 
the  operator  could  be  instructed  to  stop  at  any 
piint,  or  to  start,  or  to  wind  back  and  run  some 
given  piece  over  again.  The  lights  hi  the  room 
were  controlled  from  within  the  booth  and  also  by 
a  switch  just  at  the  side  of  the  door.  A  telephone 
on  the  table  offered  a  connection  with  any  part  of 
the  studio  or  with  the  city  exchanges,  so  that  an 
official  of  the  company  could  be  reached  while 

viewing  a  picture. 

362 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

As  we  entered  I  tried  to  study  the  different  faces, 
but  found  it  a  hopeless  task  on  account  of  the  poor 
light.  Kennedy  took  his  place  at  the  little  table, 
switching  on  the  little  shaded  lamp  and  motioning 
for  Mackay  to  set  the  traveling  bag  so  he  could 
open  it  and  view  the  contents.  Then  Mackay  took 
post  at  the  door,  a  hand  in  his  pocket,  and  I  realized 
that  the  district  attorney  clasped  a  weapon  beneath 
the  cover  of  his  clothing,  and  was  prepared  for 
trouble.  I  moved  over  to  be  ready  to  help  Ken- 
nedy if  necessary.  As  Kennedy  took  his  key,  un- 
locking the  bag,  it  would  have  been  possible  to 
have  heard  the  slightest  movement  of  a  hand  or 
foot,  the  faintest  gasp  of  breath,  so  tense  was  the 
silence. 

First  Kennedy  took  out  the  various  rolls  of  film. 
Looking  up,  he  caught  the  face  of  the  operator 
at  the  opening  in  the  wall  and  handed  them  to  him 
one  by  one. 

"Here  are  two  sections  of  the  opening  of  the 
story,  scenes  one  to  thirteen  of  'The  Black  Terror' 
put  together  in  order,  but  without  subtitles.  One 
is  printed  from  the  negative  of  the  head  camera 
man,  Watkins.  The  other  is  exactly  the  same  ac- 
tion as  taken  by  the  other  photographer.  We  will 
run  both,  but  wait  for  my  signal  between  each 
piece.  Understand?" 

"Yes,  sir!" 

363 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"Now  I  am  giving  you  two  rolls  which  contain 
prints  of  the  negative  from  both  cameras  of  the 
action  at  the  moment  of  Werner's  death.  Those 
are  to  be  projected  in  the  same  way  when  I  give  you 
the  signal.  Following  that  there  will  be  two  very 
short  pieces  which  show  the  attempt  upon  the  life 
of  Mr.  Shirley.  They  are  being  rushed  through 
the  laboratory  at  this  moment  and  will  be  brought 
to  you  by  the  tune  we  are  ready  for  them.  Finally  " 
—Kennedy  paused  and  as  he  took  the  rolls  of  nega- 
tive of  the  snake  film  I  could  see  that  he  hesitated 
to  allow  them  out  of  his  hands  even  for  a  few 
moments — "here  is  some  negative  which  will  be 
my  little  climax.  It — it  is  very  valuable  indeed,  so 
please  be  careful." 

"You — you  want  to  project  the  negative?" 
queried  the  operator. 

"Yes.  They  tell  me  it  can  be  done,  even  with 
negative  as  old  and  brittle  as  this,  if  you  are 
careful." 

"I'll  be  careful,  sir!  You  punch  the  button 
there  once  to  stop  and  two  to  go.  I'll  be  ready  in 
a  moment."  As  he  spoke  he  disappeared  and  soon 
we  heard  the  unmistakable  hiss  of  the  arcs  in  his 
machines. 

Kennedy  stooped  and  from  the  bag  produced 
the  little  envelopes  with  the  pocket  knives  and  nail 
files,  the  set  of  envelopes  with  the  samples  of  blood, 

364 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

the  piece  of  silk  he  had  cut  from  the  portiere  at 
Tarrytown,  the  tiny  bits  he  had  cut  from  the  towel 
found  by  me  in  the  washroom  of  this  studio,  and 
a  microscope — the  last,  I  guessed,  for  effect. 

Around  in  the  semidarkness  I  could  see  the 
faces  as  necks  were  craned  to  watch  us.  Kennedy's 
deliberateness,  his  air  of  certainty,  must  have 
struck  terror  home  to  some  one  person  in  the  little 
audience.  Often  Kennedy  depended  upon  hidden 
scientific  instruments  to  catch  the  faint  outward 
signs  of  the  emotions  of  his  people  in  a  seance  of 
this  sort,  to  allow  the  comparison  of  their  reactions 
in  the  course  of  his  review  of  the  evidence,  to  give 
him  what  amounted  to  a  very  sure  proof  of  the  one 
person's  guilt.  The  very  absence  of  some  such 
preparation  indicated  to  me  the  extent  of  his 
confidence. 

At  length  he  began  his  little  lecture,  for  all  the 
world  as  though  this  were  one  of  his  classes  at  the 
University,  as  though  there  were  at  stake  some 
matter  of  chemical  reaction. 

"I  need  not  tell  you,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  that 
this  is  a  highly  scientific  age  in  which  we  live." 
His  tones  were  leisurely,  businesslike,  cool.  "Your 
own  profession,  the  moving  picture,  with  all  its 
detail  of  photography  and  electricity,  its  blending 
of  art  and  drama  and  mechanics,  is  indicative  of 
that,  but" — a  pause  for  emphasis — "it  is  of  my 

365 


own  profession  I  wish  to  talk  just  now,  the  detection 
and  prevention  of  crime. 

"  Criminals  as  a  whole  were  probably  the  very 
first  class  of  society  to  realize  the  full  benefit  of 
modern  science.  Banks  and  business  institutions, 
the  various  detective  and  police  forces,  all  grades 
and  walks  of  life  have  been  put  to  it  to  keep  abreast 
of  the  development  of  scientific  crime.  So  true  has 
this  been  that  it  is  a  matter  of  common  belief  with 
many  people  that  the  hand  of  the  law  may  be  defied 
with  impunity,  that  justice  may  be  cheated  with  ab- 
solute certainty,  just  so  long  as  a  guilty  man  or 
woman  is  sufficiently  clever  and  sufficiently  careful. 

"Fortunately,  the  real  truth  is  quite  the  reverse. 
Science  has  extended  itself  in  many  dimensions  of 
space.  With  the  use  of  a  microscope,  for  instance, 
a  whole  new  world  is  opened  up  to  the  trained 
detective. 

"Everyone  knows  now  that  the  examination  of 
hands  and  fingers  is  an  infallible  aid  in  the  identifi- 
cation of  criminals  and  in  the  proof  of  the  presence 
of  a  suspect  at  the  scene  of  a  crime — I  refer  to  finger- 
prints, of  course.  But  fingerprints  are  only  one 
small  detail  in  this  department  of  investigation. 
Our  criminals  know  that  gloves  must  be  worn,  or  any 
smooth  surface  wiped  so  as  to  remove  the  prints. 
In  that  way  they  believe  they  cheat  the  microscope 
or  the  pocket  lens. 

366 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"As  a  matter  of  fact  few  people  have  thought  of 
another  way  of  gaining  evidence  from  the  finger 
tips,  but  it  is  a  method  possible  to  the  scientist, 
and  is  not  only  practicable  but  exceedingly  effec- 
tive. In  time  it  will  be  recognized  by  all  specialists 
in  crime.  Now  I  refer  to  the  deposits  under  the 
finger  nail. 

"Indeed,  it  is  surprising  how  many  things  find 
their  way  under  the  nail  and  into  the  corners  of  the 
cuticle."  Kennedy  indicated  the  files  and  pocket 
knives  visible  in  the  shaded  square  of  light  before 
him.  "The  value  of  examining  finger-nail  deposits 
becomes  evident  when  we  realize  that  everyone 
carries  away  in  that  fashion  a  sample  of  every  bit 
of  material  he  handles.  To  touch  a  piece  of  cloth, 
even  lightly,  will  result  in  the  catching  of  a  few  of 
its  fibers.  Similarly,  the  finger  nails  will  deposit 
either  a  small  or  large  portion  of  their  accumulation 
upon  such  things  as  the  knife  blades  or  files  used 
to  clean  them;  and  there  identification  still  is 
possible.  Nothing  in  the  world  is  too  infinitesimal 
for  use  as  evidence  beneath  the  microscope. 

"In  classifying  these  accumulations" — Kennedy 
paused  and  the  silence  in  the  little  room  was  death- 
like— "we  may  say  that  there  are  some  which  are 
legitimate  and  some  which  are  not.  It  is  the  latter 
which  concern  us  now.  The  first  day  we  were  here 
at  the  studio,  just  four  days  ago  now,  and  im- 

367 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

mediately  following  the  murder  of  Miss  Lamar,  Mr. 
Jameson  discovered  a  towel  in  the  washroom  on  the 
second  floor  of  the  office  building.  On  that  towel 
there  were  spots  of  Chinese  yellow,  make-up,  as 
though  it  had  been  used  to  wipe  a  face  or  hands  by 
some  actor  or  actress.  Those  spots  were  unim- 
portant. There  were  others,  however,  of  an  entirely 
different  nature,  together  with  the  mark  of  blood 
and  a  stain  which  showed  that  a  hypodermic  needle 
had  been  cleaned  upon  the  towel  before  it  was 
thrown  in  the  basket." 

Kennedy  leaned  forward.  His  eyes  traveled 
from  face  to  face.  "That  towel  was  a  dangerous 
clue."  Now  there  was  a  new  grim  element  in  his 
voice.  "That  towel  alone  has  given  me  the  evi- 
dence on  which  I  shall  obtain  a  conviction  in  this 
case.  To-day  I  let  it  be  known  that  it  was  in  my 
possession  and  the  guilty  man  or  woman  under- 
stood at  once  the  value  it  would  be  to  me.  In 
order  to  gain  additional  clues  I  purposely  gave  the 
impression  that  I  had  yet  to  analyze  either  the 
spots  or  the  trace  of  blood.  I  wanted  the  towel 
stolen,  and  for  that  purpose  I  placed  the  bag  con- 
taining it  in  a  locker  and  left  the  locker  unguarded. 
I  coated  the  towel  with  a  substance  which  would 
cause  discomfort  and  alarm — itching  salve — not 
with  the  idea  that  anyone  would  be  foolish  enough 
to  go  about  scratching  before  my  eyes,  but  with  the 

368 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

idea  of  making  that  person  believe  that  such  was 
my  purpose  and  with  the  idea  of  driving  him — or 
her — to  washing  his  hands  at  once  and,  more,  with 
the  idea  of  forcing  him  or  scaring  him  into  cleaning 
his  fingernails. 

"I  succeeded.  On  one  of  these  files  or  knife 
blades  I  have  found  and  identified  the  fibers  of  that 
towel.  I  do  not  yet  know  the  person,  but  I  know 
the  mark  placed  by  Mackay  on  the  outside  of  the 
little  envelope,  and  when  I  tell  Mackay  the  mark  he 
will  name  the  guilty  person." 

"Mr.  Kennedy!"  Manton  spoke  up,  impul- 
sively, "every  towel  in  the  studio  is  the  same. 
I  bought  them  all  at  the  same  time.  The  fibers 
would  all  be  alike.  You  have  named  seven  people 
to  me,  including  myself,  as  possibly  guilty  of  these 
— these  murders.  Your  conclusions  may  be  very 
unjust — and  may  lead  to  a  serious  miscarriage  of 
justice." 

Kennedy  was  unperturbed.  "This  particular 
towel,  in  addition  to  the  itching  salve,  was  thor- 
oughly impregnated  with  a  colorless  chemical 
which  changed  the  composition  of  the  fibers  in  a 
way  easily  distinguishing  them  from  the  others 
under  the  microscope.  Do  you  see,  Mr.  Manton?" 

The  promoter  had  no  more  to  say. 

"Now  what  connection  has  the  towel  with  the 
case?  Simply  this!"  Kennedy  picked  up  one 

369 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

of  the  tiny  pieces  he  had  cut  out  of  it.  "The  poison 
used  to  kill  Miss  Lamar  was  snake  venom."  He 
paused  while  a  little  murmur  went  through  his 
audience,  the  first  sound  I  had  detected.  "These 
spots  on  the  towel  are  antivenin.  The  venom  it- 
self is  exceedingly  dangerous  to  handle.  The 
guilty  man — or  woman — took  no  chances,  but  in- 
oculated himself  with  antivenin,  protection  against 
any  chance  action  of  the  poison.  The  marks  on  the 
towel  are  the  marks  made  by  the  needle  used  by 
that  person  in  taking  the  inoculation. 

"If  you  will  follow  me  closely  you  will  under- 
stand the  significance  of  this.  Miss  Lamar  was 
killed  by  the  scratch  of  a  needle  secreted  in  the 
portieres  through  which  she  came,  playing  the 
scene  in  Mr.  Phelps's  library.  That  I  will  prove  to 
you  when  I  show  you  the  film.  The  night  following 
her  death  some  one  broke  into  the  room  there  at 
Tarrytown  and  removed  the  needle.  In  removing 
the  needle  that  person  scratched  himself,  or  herself. 
On  the  portieres  I  found  some  tiny  spots  of  blood." 
Kennedy  paused  to  hold  up  the  bit  of  heavy  silk. 
"I  analyzed  them  and  found  that  the  blood  serum 
had  changed  in  character  very  subtly.  I  demon- 
strated that  the  blood  of  the  person  who  took  the 
needle  contained  antivenin,  and  if  necessary  I  can 
prove  the  blood  to  come  from  the  same  individual 
who  wiped  the  needle  on  the  towel  in  the  studio." 

370 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

Kennedy  pressed  the  button  before  him,  twice. 
"Now  I  want  you  to  see,  actually  see  Miss  Lamar 
meet  her  death." 

The  lights  went  out,  then  the  picture  flashed  on 
the  screen  before  us,  revealing  the  gloom  and  mys- 
tery of  the  opening  scene  of  "The  Black  Terror." 
We  saw  the  play  of  the  flashlight,  finally  the  fingers 
and  next  the  arm  of  Stella  as  she  parted  the  cur- 
tains. In  the  close-up  we  witnessed  the  repetition 
of  her  appearance,  since  the  film  was  simply  spliced 
together,  not  "matched"  or  trimmed.  Following 
came  all  the  action  down  to  the  point  where  she 
collapsed  over  the  figure  of  Werner  on  the  floor. 
Before  the  camera  man  stopped,  Manton  rushed  in 
and  was  photographed  bending  over  her. 

Kennedy's  voice  was  dramatically  tense,  for 
not  one  of  us  but  had  been  profoundly  affected  by 
the  reproduction  of  the  tragedy. 

"Did  you  notice  the  terror  in  her  face  when  she 
cried  out?  Was  that  terror,  really?  If  you  were 
watching,  you  would  have  detected  a  slight  flinch 
as  she  brushed  her  arm  up  against  the  silk.  For 
just  a  moment  she  was  not  acting.  It  was  pain, 
not  pretended  terror,  which  made  her  scream.  The 
devilish  feature  to  this  whole  plot  was  the  care 
taken  to  cover  just  that  thing — her  inevitable 
exclamation.  Now  watch  closely  as  I  signal  the 
operator  to  run  the  same  action  from  the  other 

371 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

camera.  Notice  the  gradual  effect  of  the  poison, 
how  she  forces  herself  to  keep  going  without  realiza- 
tion of  the  fact  that  death  is  at  hand,  how  she 
collapses  finally  through  sheer  inability  to  maintain 
her  control  of  herself  a  moment  longer." 

During  the  running  of  the  second  piece  the  tense 
silence  in  the  room  was  ghastly.  Who  was  the 
guilty  person?  Who  possessed  such  amazing  cal- 
lousness that  an  exhibition  of  this  sort  brought  no 
outcry? 

"Now" — Kennedy  glanced  around  in  the  dim 
light,  switched  on  between  the  running  of  the 
different  strips — "I'm  going  to  project  the  banquet 
scenes  and  show  you  the  manner  of  Werner's 
death." 

Scene  after  scene  of  the  banquet  flashed  before 
us.  Here  the  cutter  had  not  been  sure  just  what 
Kennedy  wanted  and  had  spliced  up  everything. 
We  saw  the  marvelous  direction  of  Werner,  who 
little  realized  that  it  was  to  be  his  last  few  moments 
on  earth,  and  we  grasped  the  beauty  and  illusion 
of  the  set  caused  by  the  mirrors  and  the  man's  skill 
in  placing  his  people.  Yet  there  was  not  a  sound, 
because  we  knew  that  this  was  a  tragedy,  a  grim 
episode  in  which  there  was  no  human  justification 
whatever. 

Werner  rose  at  his  place.  He  proposed  his  toast. 
He  drank  the  contents  of  his  glass.  Then,  his  ex- 

372 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

pression  changed  to  wonderment  and  from  that  to 
fear  and  realization,  and  he  dropped  to  the  floor. 

Kennedy's  voice,  interrupting,  seemed  to  me  to 
come  from  a  great  distance,  so  powerfully  was  I 
affected  by  the  bit  of  film. 

"The  poison  used  to  kill  Mr.  Werner  was  botulin 
toxin,  selected  because  its  effects  could  not  be 
diagnosed  as  anything  other  than  ordinary  food 
poisoning.  When  we  look  at  the  print  from  the 
second  camera's  negative  you  will  notice  how 
quickly  it  acted.  It  was  the  pure  toxin,  placed  in 
his  glass  before  the  wine  was  poured." 

Once  more  the  unfortunate  director's  death  was 
reproduced  before  us. 

"Struck  down,"  exclaimed  Craig,  "as  though  by 
some  invisible  lightning  bolt,  without  mercy,  without 
a  chance,  without  the  slightest  bit  of  compunction! 
Why?  I'll  tell  you.  Because  he  suspected,  in  fact 
knew,  who  the  guilty  person  was.  Because  he  fol- 
lowed that  person  out  to  Tarrytown  the  night  the 
needle  was  removed  from  the  portieres.  Because 
he  was  a  menace  to  that  person's  life!" 

Kennedy  turned  to  the  operator.  "Have  those 
other  scenes  come  down?" 

"Yes,  sir!" 

"All  right!"  Kennedy  faced  the  rest  of  us  again. 
"There  was,  or  rather  is,  another  person  who 
suspects  the  identity  of  the  criminal.  To-day  an 

373 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

attempt  was  made  upon  the  life  of  Shirley.  Shirley 
will  not  tell  whom  he  suspects  because  he  has  no 
definite  proof,  yet  for  the  mere  fact  that  he  suspects 
he  narrowly  escaped  the  fate  of  Stella  Lamar  and 
Werner."  Kennedy  pressed  the  button.  "Wit- 
ness the  effort  to  kill  the  man  playing  the  part  of 
the  Black  Terror." 

The  print  was  terribly  bad,  in  appearance  almost 
a  "dupe,"  due  to  the  speed  with  which  it  had  been 
made.  Nevertheless  the  two  very  brief  scenes 
rushed  through  for  this  showing  were  more  ab- 
sorbingly thrilling,  more  graphic  than  anything  ever 
to  be  seen  even  in  a  news  reel  at  a  movie  theater. 

"Notice!"  Kennedy  exclaimed.  "He  puts  his 
hand  in  one  pocket,  he  fumbles,  hesitates,  then  finds 
the  bottle  in  the  other.  Whoever  put  the  poison 
in  the  vial  replaced  it  in  the  wrong  pocket.  The 
film  shows  that  very  clearly.  The  camera  proves 
that  it  was  not  an  attempt  at  suicide.  Yet  the 
poison  used  was  belladonna,  selected  because  this 
victim  had  purchased  some  and  because  it  would 
seem  sure,  therefore,  that  he  had  committed 
suicide." 

We  sat  in  silence,  listening,  horrified. 

"There  is  still  another  matter,"  Kennedy  went 
on,  after  a  moment.  "The  fire  in  the  negative 
vault  this  morning  was  incendiary.  I  have  proved 
to  the  satisfaction  of  several  of  us  that  a  bomb  was 

374 


THE    FILM   MYSTERY 

constructed  of  wet  phosphorus  and  old  film  and 
placed  in  the  vault  by  trickery  four  days  ago,  the 
same  day  Stella  Lamar  was  killed.  Through  a  mis- 
calculation the  phosphorus  was  slow  in  drying  and 
the  fire  did  not  occur  until  to-day.  Thanks  to  that 
fact  I  have  in  my  possession  a  bit  of  negative  which 
the  murderer  very  likely  wished  to  have  destroyed; 
in  fact,  I  believe  its  destruction  to  be  the  motive  in 
planning  the  fire  in  the  vault."  He  faced  the 
operator.  " Ready  to  run  the  negative?" 

"Yes,  sir!" 

Kennedy  pressed  the  button  and  when  the  pro- 
jection machine  threw  its  picture  upon  the  screen 
I  saw  something  such  as  I  had  never  imagined 
before.  Everything  was  black  which  should  have 
been  white  and  everything  white  which  should 
have  been  black.  The  two  extremes  shaded  into 
each  other  hi  weird  fashion.  In  fact  it  was  un- 
canny to  watch  a  negative  projected  and  I  followed, 
fascinated. 

"This  is  a  film  made  w^ith  the  co-operation  of 
Doctor  Nagoya  of  the  Castleton  Institute  and  I  am 
told  by  Mr.  Manton  that  it  is  one  of  the  finest 
snake  pictures  ever  made."  Kennedy  spoke  fast, 
so  that  we  would  get  the  full  benefit  of  his  explana- 
tion and  so  that  it  would  not  be  necessary  to  subject 
the  negative  to  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  sprocket 
wheels  in  the  projection  machine  again.  "I  am 

375 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

running  this  for  you  to  show  you  the  action  of  the 
rattlesnake,  whose  venom  was  used  to  kill  Miss 
Lamar,  and  to  give  you  an  idea  of  the  source  of  the 
murderer's  knowledge  of  snake  poison." 

At  this  moment  Doctor  Nagoya,  whom  I  could 
barely  recognize  in  the  inverted  photography, 
seized  one  of  the  rattlers.  It  was  a  close-up  and 
we  could  see  the  reptile  dart  out  its  forked  tongue, 
seeking  to  get  at  the  hands  of  the  Japanese,  locked 
firmly  about  its  neck.  Then  another  man  walked 
into  the  picture,  holding  a  jar.  At  once  the  snake 
struck  at  the  glass.  As  it  did  so  it  was  possible 
to  see  drops  of  the  venom  projected  into  the  jar. 

Other  details  followed  and  there  were  views  of 
other  sorts  and  breeds  of  snakes,  from  the  poisonous 
to  the  most  harmless.  The  principal  scene,  how- 
ever, had  been  the  one  showing  the  venom. 

"Lights  up!" 

The  operator  threw  the  switch  again,  stopping 
the  film  and  at  the  same  time  lighting  the  projec- 
tion room.  Kennedy  stepped  forward  and  turned 
to  face  us. 

"There  was  this  negative  in  the  vaults."  He 
spoke  rapidly.  "  It  bore  a  certain  name  on  the 
film,  as  editor.  Some  one  knew  that  proof  of  the 
possession  of  this  knowledge  of  snakes  might  prove 
a  powerful  link  in  the  chain  against  him.  If  that 
had  been  a  positive  instead  of  a  negative,  you 

376 


THE   FILM   MYSTERY 

would  have  recognized  Doctor  Nagoya's  'assist- 
ant.' There  was  a  double  motive  in  blowing  that 
vault — to  destroy  the  company  and  to  protect  him- 
self. In  fact,  all  the  rest  of  the  negative  was 
destroyed.  Only  by  chance  I  saved  this  piece — 
the  very  one  that  he  wanted  to  destroy." 

Everyone  waited  breathlessly  for  Kennedy's  next 
move.  Suddenly  Kennedy  flushed.  I  could  see 
that  he  became  genuinely  angry. 

"In  this  room,"  he  exclaimed,  "there  sits  the 
most  unscrupulous,  cold-blooded,  inhuman  being  I 
have  ever  known.  Yet  he  maintains  silence,  be- 
lieving still  that  he  can  defy  the  scientific  evidence 
of  his  crimes.  I  have  not  yet  mentioned,  however, 
the  real  proof  of  his  guilt." 

Kennedy  picked  up  one  of  the  little  envelopes, 
one  which  contained  a  blood  smear.  "During  the 
explosion  this  morning  a  number  of  you  were  cut 
by  falling  glass.  You  will  remember  that  I  bound 
up  your  cuts,  carefully  cleansing  each  one  and 
wiping  away  the  blood.  That  gave  me  a  sample  of 
the  blood  of  everyone  but  Miss  Loring  and  Mr. 
Shirley.  Subsequently,  without  their  knowledge,  I 
obtained  a  sample  from  each  of  them.  Thus  I 
have  a  specimen  from  everyone  concerned,  or  pos- 
sibly concerned  in  the  murders." 

He  glanced  about,  but  even  now  there  was  no 
telltale  revelation. 

377 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

"I  have  analyzed  these  and  one  shows  that  the 
person  from  whom  I  obtained  the  sample  has  been 
inoculated  with  antivenin.  The  mark  on  the 
envelope  is  the  same  as  the  mark  on  the  envelope 
containing  the  towel  fibers,  a  double  proof.  Fur- 
thermore, I  am  prepared  to  show  that  it  is  the  same 
blood  as  the  blood  upon  the  portiere."  He  faced 
me.  All  at  once  his  voice  carried  the  sharpness  of 
a  whip.  "Walter,  relieve  Mackay  at  the  door  and 
take  his  weapon.  Let  no  one  out.  Mackay,  come 
here!" 

An  instant  later  the  district  attorney  leaned  over. 
He  glanced  at  the  mark  indicated  by  Kennedy,  then 
whispered  a  name.  The  next  instant  Kennedy 
rose.  "I  thought  so,"  he  muttered. 

Raising  his  voice,  he  addressed  all  of  us. 

"Here  is  a  man  who  thought  crime  so  long  that 
he  believed  he  could  get  away  with — murder! 

"Not  only  did  he  commit  a  second  murder  and 
plan  a  third  to  cover  the  first,  but  he  planted  evi- 
dence against  nearly  all  of  you.  He  dropped  the 
ampulla  in  McGroarty's  car  to  implicate  any  one 
of  four  people.  He  coolly  stole  a  cigarette  case  to 
put  it  where  it  would  be  found  after  the  film  fire 
and  clinch  suspicion. 

"For  all  this,  what  justification  has  he  had? 
Jealousy,  jealousy  of  the  narrowest,  most  primitive, 
sort  actuated  him.  Not  only  was  he  willing  to  kill 

378 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

Stella  Lamar,  but  he  sought  to  destroy  every  foot 
of  negative  in  which  she  had  appeared.  He  was 
jealous  of  her  success,  greater  than  his,  jealous  of 
her  interest  in  other  men,  greater  than  her  interest 
in  him.  Her  divorce  was  maneuvered  directly  by 
him  simply  because  he  thought  it  would  hurt  and 
humiliate  her,  and  for  no  other  reason. 

"When  nothing  seemed  to  stop  her,  on  her  up- 
ward climb,  when  he  realized  that  she  was  as 
ambitious  as  he  was  and  that  her  position  in  the 
picture  world  alone  interested  her,  he  sought  by 
devious  means,  by  subtle  schemes,  by  spreading 
dissatisfaction  and  encouraging  dissension,  to  wreck 
the  company  which  had  made  her.  At  the  end — 
he  killed  her — waiting  craftily  until  she  was  at  the 
very  climax  of  her  finest  piece  of  work,  the  opening 
scenes  of  'The  Black  Terror.' " 

There  was  bitterness  in  Kennedy's  tones.  "Be- 
fore, I  would  not  believe  that  a  man — 

Suddenly  the  projection  room  was  plunged  into 
darkness.  Some  one  had  pushed  the  wall  switch 
close  by  me.  I  backed  into  the  doorway,  raising 
my  weapon  to  resist  any  attempt  to  escape. 

Almost  at  the  same  instant  there  were  the  sounds 
of  a  struggle.  Kennedy  had  dashed  forward  in 
the  darkness,  sure  of  the  position  of  his  man, 
unafraid. 

A  scream  I  recognized  from  the  throat  of  Enid. 

379 


THE    FILM    MYSTERY 

i  groped  for  the  switch,  but  the  operator  in  the 
booth  anticipated  me.  In  the  first  burst  of  illumin- 
ation I  saw  that  Kennedy  had  forced  his  antagonist 
back  over  the  front  row  of  chairs.  Almost  I  heard 
the  crack  of  the  man's  spine. 

I  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  man's  face  and  gasped 
at  the  murderous  rage  as  he  struggled  and  strove 
to  break  Kennedy's  iron  grip. 

Enid  was  the  first  at  Kennedy's  side.  With  an 
expression  I  failed  to  analyze  until  long  afterward 
she  sought  to  claw  at  the  murderer's  unprotected 
features,  twitching  now  in  impotent  fury. 

"  You  wrote  that  note  for  her  to  meet  you  at  the 
tearoom,"  Kennedy  muttered,  eyes  narrowing 
grimly,  "knowing  she  would  be  dead  before  that 
time.  You  protected  yourself  against  the  poisoned 
needle  in  the  portieres — but — your  own  blood  con- 
victs you— Millard!" 


THE   END 


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